EXCHANGE 


PUBLICATIONS 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


AMERICANA  GERMANICA 

MONOGRAPHS  DEVOTED  TO  THE  COMPARATIVE 
STUDY  OF  THE 

Literary,  Linguistic  and  Other  Cultural  Relations 


OF 


Germany  and  America 

EDITOR 

MARION    DEXTER    LEARNED 

University  of  Pennsylvania 

(Ste  List  at  the  End  of  the  Book} 


WHITTIER'S   RELATION  TO   GERMAN 
LIFE  AND  THOUGHT 


A    Thesis  presented  to   the    Faculty   of  the    Graduate    School 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania   in  partial  fulfil 
ment  of  the  requirements  for  the  Degree 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 


By 

1OLA  KAY  EASTBURN 


Ctmericana  (Bermamca 

NUMBER  20. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

1915 


COPYRIGHT  1915 

BY 
IOLA  KAY  EASTBUKN. 


TO  MY  PARENTS 


338552 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER     I.     WHITTIER  AND  THE  GERMANS  IN  AMERICA.  .  1 1 

Karl  Follen 1 1 

Carl  Schurz 17 

Governor  Ritner 18 

The  Pennsylvania  Freeman 26 

Bayard  Taylor 34 

The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim 42 

Hymn  of  the  Bunkers 55 

Maud  Muller 60 

Cobbler  Keezar's  Vision 62 

Barbara  Frietchie   66 

The  Palatine 71 

Baron  Steuben 72 

German  American  Translation  of  Whittier's 

"Homestead"    73 

German  American  Translation  of  "Clerical 

Oppressors" 76 

CHAPTER  II.     WHITTIER  AND  GERMAN  THEMES 78 

The  Devil  Legends,  Faust  and  Goethe 79 

Translation  of  Goethe's  "Erlkonig" 87 

Whittier  and  Romanticism 91 

Paraphrase  of  Spitta's  "Geduld" 97 

To  Ronge 101 

Article  on  "Attitude  of  Germany  to  Slavery 

in  the  United  States" 102 

Whittier  and  the  German  Mystics 104 

Whittier  and  Transcendentalism       112 

Luther    1 18 

The  Franco-Prussian  War  of  1870 122 

Child  Life 124 

Max  Muller   127 

Freiligrath   128 

The  Two  Elizabeths 130 

(5) 


"S   ""      - 

f> 


6  Contents 

Page 

The  Brown  Dwarf  of  Riigen 132 

Literary  References  to  German  Authors  and 

Works 135 

Whittier  in  German  Literature 145 

APPENDIX    149 

The  Everlasting  Taper 149 

German  Books  in  Whittier's  Library 152 

Bibliography    154 


PREFACE. 

Although  Whittier  had  a  very  meagre  education  as  a  boy, 
and  spent  practically  all  his  life  within  a  few  miles  of  his  birth 
place,1  yet  he  was  a  man  of  wide  interests  and  wide  reading;  and 
though  prevented  by  ill  health  from  traveling  either  in  this 
country  or  abroad,  he  saw  and  knew  other  lands  through  books 
of  travel  and  the  letters  of  his  friends. 

His  position  as  editor2  of  various  papers,  and  his  active  inter 
est  in  politics,3  and  in  all  questions  of  reform,  brought  him  into 
touch  with  the  first  thinkers  of  the  day  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Whittier  is  above  all  a  poet  of  New  England,  of  the  people, 
and  of  the  anti-slavery  movement.  Although  he  does  not  know 
the  literature4  of  other  countries  at  first  hand  as  do  Longfellow 
and  other  of  the  New  England  poets,  he  enjoyed  it  as  much  as 
possible  through  translations.  When  one  goes  through  Whittier's 
works  carefully,  one  is  surprised  at  the  extent  of  his  knowledge 
and  interest  in  all  subjects.  He  counted  amongst  his  friends, 
the  poet  Longfellow  and  knew  his  translations ;  he  also  knew  per 
sonally  the  translator  Charles  C.  Brooks,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Tracy,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  other  trans 
lators,  and  their  works.  Between  Bayard  Taylor  and  our  poet 
there  was  a  close  life-long  friendship.  He  was  also  in  close  touch 


1John  Grccnleaf  Whittier  was  born  December  17,  1807,  on  a  farm  near 
Haverhill,  Essex  County,  Mass.,  and  in  1836  moved  with  his  mother  and  sister 
to  Amesbury,  Mass.  He  died  September  7,  1892. 

2 1829,  Whittier  edited  the  American  Manufacturer  in  Boston;  1830,  the 
Haverhill  Gazette;  1830-1831,  New  England  Review  in  Hartford;  1836,  Essex 
Gazette,  Haverhill,  Mass. ;  1838-1840,  the  Pennsylvania  Freeman  in  Philadel 
phia;  1844,  the  Middlesex  Standard  in  Lowell;  1847-1860,  corresponding  editor 
of  the  Washington  National  Era.  Besides  editing  these  papers,  he  contributed 
to  numerous  other  periodicals,  chief  among  which  were:  Garrison's  Liberator, 
the  Democratic  Review  of  Washington  and  the  Atlantic  Monthly. 

a  Whittier  became  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  in 
I^35.  His  health,  however,  did  not  permit  him  to  hold  an  important  political 
office  and  he  had  to  decline  a  nomination  to  Congress  by  the  Liberal  Party  in 
1842. 

4  Though  he  gained  a  little  knowledge  of  French  at  the  Haverhill  Academy, 
he  did  not  take  up  German.  His  only  attempt  at  using  German  is  in  an  unpub 
lished  letter  to  James  T.  Fields,  Amesbury,  ist  mo.  i,  1883,  "Wo  ist  Peter 
Grimm?  Where's  the  Hermits?  I  am  sorry  the  book  is  not  out,  and  as  Toots 
says  in  'Dombey  and  Son',  'It's  of  no  sort  of  consequence'." 


8  Preface 

with  Dr.  Carl  Pollen  of  Harvard  University,  and  a  number  of 
other  German  refugees,  who  undoubtedly  brought  him  more  or 
less  into  touch  with  German  life  and  thought. 

Both  in  the  library  at  his  home  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  and  in 
his  study  at  Oak  Knoll,  are  many  books5  translated  from  the  Ger 
man  and  other  languages ;  and  in  many  cases  presentation  copies 
from  the  translators  themselves.  As  many  of  Whittier's  books 
were  given  after  his  death  to  friends,  and  many  more  sold  in 
Literary  Auction  sales  by  Anderson  &  Co.,  New  York,  and  others, 
there  were  doubtless  in  his  original  library  very  many  more  books 
of  the  same  type. 

Whittier's  poems  inspired  by  German  themes  are:  Transla 
tion  of  Erlkonig,  1840;  To  Ronge,  1846;  The  Angel  of  Patience, 
1847;  Tauler,  1853;  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott,  1861 ;  The 
Vision  of  Echard,  1878;  The  Mystics  Christmas,  1882;  The  Two 
Elizabeths,  1885;  The  Brown  Dwarf  of  Riigen,  1888. 

German  American  subjects:  Expostulation,  1834;  To  Ritner, 
1837;  To  Follen,  1842;  Gobbler  Keezar's  Vision,  1861 ;  Barbara 
Fritchie,  1863;  The  Palatine,  1867;  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim, 
1872 ;  The  Hymn  of  the  Dunkers,  1877 ;  Bayard  Taylor,  1879. 

He  was  interested  also  in  the  literature  and  history  of  other 
countries,  as  his  poems  and  prose  articles  on  French,  Italian, 
Scandinavian  and  Eastern  themes  show. 

In  writing  this  book  I  have  not  tried  to  prove  any  strong 
German  influence  upon  Whittier,  as  this  does  not  exist,  but  only 
to  show  how  far  he  was  touched  by  it  and  especially  his  interest 
in  the  Germans  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  here  at  home, 
because  of  their  common  sympathies  in  reform  movements,  and 
especially  on  the  anti-slavery  question. 

I  have  gone  carefully  over  all  the  newspapers  of  which 
Whittier  was  for  a  time  editor,  and  those  to  which  he  contributed. 
It  was  not  possible  to  get  hold  of  all  his  unpublished  letters,  as 
many  are  in  the  hands  of  friends  who  consider  them  too  per 
sonal  for  publication ;  but  as  far  as  possible  I  have  consulted  these 
letters,  and  have  published  the  parts  which  bear  upon  my  subject. 


B  See  Appendix  for  list  of  these  books. 


Preface  9 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Professor  M.  D. 
Learned,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  suggested  the 
subject  to  me,  and  whose  encouragement  and  help  have  been 
invaluable ;  also  to  Mr.  Samuel  T.  Pickard,  of  Amesbury,  Mass. ; 
Mr.  John  G.  Moulten,  Librarian  of  the  Public  Library,  Haver- 
hill,  Mass. ;  Mr.  T.  Franklin  Currier,  of  the  Harvard  Library ; 
Mr.  Charles  Jenkins,  Germantown,  Pa. ;  Mr.  William  A.  Speck, 
of  Yale  University ;  and  to  Dr.  R.  W.  Drechsler,  of  the  Amerika- 
Institut,  Berlin,  for  their  kind  assistance  in  my  work. 


WHITTIER'S  RELATION  1O  GERMAN 
LIFE  AND  THOUGHT. 


CHAPTER  I. 
WHITTIER  AND  THE  GERMANS  IN  AMERICA. 

The  political  refugees  who  came  to  this  country  from  Ger 
many,  became  interested,  naturally,  in  their  new  fatherland,  in  the 
question  of  freedom  for  all  men,  regardless  of  color.  It  was  this, 
especially,  that  brought  the  poet  of  anti-slavery  into  close  touch 
with  the  liberty  loving  sons  of  Germany. 

DR.  KARL  POLLEN. 

Chief  amongst  these  German  friends  of  Whittier  was  Dr. 
Karl  Pollen  of  Harvard  University. 

Pollen  and  Whittier  served  together  on  committees  at  anti- 
slavery  conventions  and  were  brought  thus  into  close  touch  with 
each  other. 

Dr.  Pollen  was  the  inspiration  for  two  poems :  Expostula 
tion,  1834,  and  Pollen,  1842.  Expostulation  appeared  first  in  The 
Liberator  of  September  13,  1834,  and  was  entitled  Stanzas.  Later 
it  was  published  under  the  title  of  Pollen  and  finally  with  its 
present  title.  Whittier  prefixed  the  following  note6  to  the  poem : 

"Dr.  Charles  Pollen,  a  German  patriot,  who  had  come  to 
America  for  the  freedom  which  was  denied  him  in  his  native 
land,  allied  himself  with  the  abolitionists,  and  at  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  all  the  anti-slavery  organizations  in  New  England, 
held  at  Boston  in  May,  1834,  was  chairman  of  a  committee7  to 
prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  New  Pngland.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  address  occurred  the  passage  which  suggested  these 
lines : 


6  See  Poems,  Camb.  Ed.,  page  267. 

7  A  pamphlet,  containing  the  address   in   which   these   words  occur,  was 
published  by  Garrison  and  Knapp,  Boston,  1834.   Whittier's  and  Pollen's  names 
are  signed  as  members  of  the  committee. 

(n) 


12          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

'The  despotism  which  our  fathers  could  not  bear  in  their 
native  country  is  expiring,  and  the  sword  of  justice  in  her 
reformed  hands  has  applied  its  exterminating  edge  to  slavery. 
Shall  the  United  States — the  free  United  States,  which  could  not 
bear  the  bonds  of  a  king — cradle  the  bondage  which  a  king  is 
abolishing?  Shall  a  republic  be  less  free  than  a  monarchy?  Shall 
we,  in  the  vigor  and  buoyancy  of  our  manhood,  be  less  energetic 
in  righteousness  than  a  kingdom  in  its  age?' — Dr.  Pollens 
Address." 

This  poem  is  one  of  Whittier's  most  passionate  outbursts 
against  the  system  of  slavery,  written  when  he  was  first  entering 
upon  his  work  in  the  cause  of  the  slave.  It  was  very  popular 
with  the  anti-slavery  orators  and  recited  by  them  with  great 
effect  at  their  meetings.8  The  seventh  stanza  refers  to  Prussia's 
attitude  toward  slavery : 

"Oh,  say,  shall  Prussia's  banner  be 
A  refuge  for  the  stricken  slave?" 

An  unpublished  letter^  from  Whittier,  dated  Haverhill,  2nd, 
3rd  mo.,  1836,  and  written  to  George  S.  Hillard,  contains  the 
following  message  to  Dr.  Follen  and  his  wife: 

"Should  thee  see  Dr.  Follen  &  his  excellent  lady  soon,  re 
member  me  kindly  to  them." 

The  Narrative  of  James  Williams,  An  American  Slave,  pub 
lished  1838,  by  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  was  written 
by  Whittier  anonymously  in  the  home  of  Mr.  John  W.  Hill,  of 
New  York,  where  he  was  staying  with  Dr.  Follen  and  a  friend 
of  the  latter. 

A  note  to  the  preface  by  the  author  says :  "The  reader  is 
referred  to  John  G.  Whittier,  of  Amesbury,  Mass.,  or  to  the  fol 
lowing  gentlemen,  who  have  heard  the  whole  or  a  part  of  his 
story  from  his  own  lips :  Emnor  Kimber,  of  Kimberton,  Pa. ; 
Lindley  Coates,  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa. ;  James  Mott,  of  Phila- 


8  S.  T.  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier.    Page  142. 
'This  letter  is  in  the  collection  of  MSS  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          13 

delphia;  Lewis  Tappan,  Elizur  Wright,  Jr.,  Rev.  Dr.  Pollen  and 
James  G.  Birney,  of  New  York." 

This  preface  was  signed  New  York,  24th  of  ist  mo.,  1838. 
Whittier  was  supposed  to  be  the  author,  but  the  fact  was  not 
established  until  1886.  A  friend  wrote  to  him  in  regard  to  it  and 
an  unpublished  letter10  contains  the  following  reply :  "I  think  the 
story  of  my  writing  the  life  of  an  escaped  slave — James 
Williams — at  Friend  Hill's  in  Water  Street,  New  York,  is  cor 
rect.  Professor  Pollen  of  Harvard  University  and  a  friend  of  his, 
an  Italian  patriot  refugee,  were  with  me.  I  remember  the  latter 
drewthe  slave's  portrait.  I  think  this  was  in  the  summer  of  1837.  I 
was  afterwards  at  Friend  Hill's  with  my  sister  on  my  way  from 
Philadelphia." 

Pollen's  views  upon  The  Future  State  were  published  in  The 
Christian  Examiner  for  January,  March  and  June,  1830.  These 
articles  were  the  foundation  of  a  second  poem  from  Whittier.  In 
the  head-note,11  he  says: 

"On  reading  his  (Pollen's)   essay  on  the  'Future  State'/' 

"Charles  Pollen,  one  of  the  noblest  contributions  of  Germany 
to  American  citizenship,  was  at  an  early  age  driven  from  his  pro 
fessorship  in  the  University  of  Jena,  and  compelled  to  seek  shelter 
in  Switzerland  from  official  persecution  on  account  of  his  liberal 
opinions.  He  became  Professor  of  Civil  Law  in  the  University 
of  Basle.  The  governments  of  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Russia  united 
in  demanding  his  delivery  as  a  political  offender;  and,  in  conse 
quence,  he  left  Switzerland,  and  came  to  the  United  States. 

"At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society 
he  was  a  professor  in  Harvard  University,  honored  for  his  genius, 
learning,  and  estimable  character.  His  love  of  liberty  and  hatred 
of  oppression  led  him  to  seek  an  interview  with  Garrison  and 
express  his  sympathy  with  him.  Soon  after,  he  attended  a  meet 
ing  of  the  New  England  Anti-Slavery  Society.  An  able  speech 
was  made  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Phelps,  and  a  letter  of  mine  addressed 


10  This  letter  was  sold  at  auction  by  the  Anderson  Auction  Company,  New 
York,  in  1909,  and  bought  by  the  Haverhill  Public  Library,  Haverhill,  Mass., 
where  the  MS  may  now  be  found. 

11  Cambridge  edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  175. 


14          Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  was  read.  Whereupon  he  rose  and 
stated  that  his  views  were  in  unison  with  those  of  the  Society, 
and  that  after  hearing  the  speech  and  the  letter,  he  was  ready 
to  join  it,  and  abide  the  probable  consequences  of  such  an 
unpopular  act.  He  lost  by  so  doing  his  professorship.  He  was  an 
able  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society.  He  perished  in  the  ill-fated  steamer  "Lexing 
ton",  which  was  burned  on  its  passage  from  New  York,  January 
13,  1840.  The  few  writings  left  behind  him  show  him  to  have 
been  a  profound  thinker  of  rare  spiritual  insight." 

The  poem  first  appeared  in  The  Democratic  Review  for  Sep 
tember,  1842,  without  this  note.12 

Whittier  pays  a  high  tribute  to  their  friendship  in  these 
verses,  which  remind  us  somewhat  of  Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam". 

ist  stanza: 

"Friend  of  my  soul !  as  with  moist  eye 

I  look  up  from  this  page  of  thine, 
Is  it  a  dream  that  thou  art  nigh, 
Thy  mild  face  gazing  into  mine?" 

loth  stanza: 

"Thou  livest  Pollen !  not  in  vain 

Hath  thy  fine  spirit  meekly  borne 
The  burden  of  Life's  cross  of  pain, 

And  the  thorned  crown  of  suffering  worn." 

1 5th  stanza: 

"  'Tis  something  to  a  heart  like  mine 

To  think  of  thee  as  living  yet ; 
To  feel  that  such  a  light  as  thine 
Could  not  in  utter  darkness  set." 

In  an  unpublished  letter13  to  his  friend  Thomas  Tracy,  6th 
mo.,  1 2th,  1842,  Whittier  says  of  Follen  :  "How  vividly  the  narra 
tive  calls  him  back  to  me !  I  bless  God  that  I  knew  that  man." 

12  In   1888,  Whittier  supervised  the  preparation  of  a  collective  edition  of 
his  writing's,  which  was  published  in   seven  volumes,  under  the  title  of  the 
Riverside  Edition.     For   this   edition,   the   poet   furnished    Introductions   and 
Notes. 

13  This  letter  was  sold  in  1911  by  C.  F.  Libbie  &  Company,  of  Boston,  in 
an  auction  sale  of  literary  property  from  the  private  library  of  Josiah  Dwight 
Whitney,  of   Harvard.     Since  Libbie  &  Company  refuse  to  give  the  names 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          15 

In  the  book  of  selections  for  children14  which  Whittier  edited 
in  1871  are  two  selections  by  Mrs.  Pollen:  Stop,  Stop,  Pretty 
Water15  and  The  New  Moon.16 

He  shows  his  appreciation  of  Pollen  in  an  article,  The  City 
of  a  Day,17  in  his  prose  works  : 

'The  population  of  Lowell  is  constituted  mainly  of  New 
Englanders;  but  there  are  representatives  here  of  almost  every 
part  of  the  civilized  world.  .  .  .  The  blue-eyed,  fair-haired  Ger 
man  from  the  towered  hills  which  overlook  the  Rhine, — slow, 
heavy,  and  unpromising  in  his  exterior,  yet  of  the  same  mould  and 
mettle  of  the  men  who  rallied  for  their  'fatherland'  at  the  Tyrtean 
call  of  Korner  and  beat  back  the  chivalry  of  France  from  the 
banks  of  the  Katzbach, — the  countrymen  of  Richter  and  Goethe, 
and  our  own  Pollen.  Here,  too,  are  peddlers  from  Hamburg,  and 
Bavaria,  and  Poland,  with  their  sharp  Jewish  faces,  and  black, 
keen  eyes.  At  this  moment,  beneath  my  window  are  two  sturdy, 
sunbrowned  Swiss  maidens  grinding  music  for  a  livelihood, 
rehearsing  in  a  strange  Yankee  land  the  simple  songs  of  their  old 
mountain  home,  reminding  me,  by  their  foreign  garb  and  lan 
guage  of 

'Lauterbrunnen's  peasant  girl'." 

The  National  Era,  July  28,  1853,  has  an  article  by  Whittier 
entitled  Der  National  Demokrat,  in  which  he  welcomes  the  sheet 
and  pays  tribute  to  Pollen.  The  article  is  here  given  in  full,  as  it 
shows  Whittier's  interest  in  the  German  publication : 

DER  NATIONAL  DEMOKRAT. 

"The  first  number  of  this  elegant  sheet  has  made  its  appear 
ance,  and  ere  this,  has  found  its  way  to  every  section  of  the  country 

of  their  customers,   I  have  been  unable  to   find   in  whose  hands  the  letter 
now  is. 

14  Child  Life,  edited  by  J.  G.  Whittier.    Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company. 

15  Child  Life,  page  55 

16  Child  Life,  page  143. 

17  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  i,  page  356.    This  appeared  as  a 
series  under  the  title,    The  Stranger  in  Lowell,  in  various  numbers  of  the 
Middlesex   Standard,  published  at  Lowell,   Mass.,  beginning  with  August   I, 
1844.     The  article,  in  which  this  quotation  is  contained,  is  in  the  number  of 
August  8,  1844. 


1 6          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

where  the  German  emigrant  has  set  up  his  household  tabernacle. 
We  cannot  but  hope  that  it  has  met  with  a  hearty  welcome  from 
thousands  of  our  adopted  countrymen  of  the  good  old  Teutonic 
stock.  The  great  majority  of  them  voted  at  the  late  Presidential 
election  for  the  candidates  of  the  party  calling  itself  Democratic, 
under  the  mistaken  impression  that  in  so  doing  they  were  sub 
serving  the  cause  of  freedom  not  only  here,  but  in  Europe.  The 
tone  of  the  administrative  organs  at  Washington  and  elsewhere, 
on  the  subject  of  our  foreign  policy,  and  their  undisguised  sympa 
thies  with  Russian  despotism,  must  now,  we  think,  fully  satisfy 
every  liberty  loving  German,  that  the  oppressed  millions  of  Europe 
have  nothing  to  hope  from  the  principles  or  practice  of  a  party, 
pledged  to  the  support  and  perpetuity  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States. 

"Many  years  ago  the  lamented  Dr.  Follen  conferred  with  us 
in  relation  to  the  publication  of  papers  and  tracts  in  the  German 
language,  showing  the  character  of  American  slavery  and  the 
inconsistency  of  its  support  or  countenance  on  the  part  of  men 
exiled  from  the  old  world  for  the  love  of  freedom  and  hatred 
of  oppression.  We  are  glad  to  see  the  project  of  this  clear 
sighted  and  warm  hearted  man  realized  in  the  publication  of  the 
National  Demokrat,  only  lamenting  that  its  columns  cannot  be 
enriched  by  the  productions  of  his  vigorous  pen  in  elucidation 
or  defense  of  the  Democracy  of  Christianity. 

"And  in  this  connection,  we  cannot  but  express  our  satisfac 
tion,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  addition  of  the  Demokrat  is  not 
disposed  to  aid  the  conspiracy  of  kings  and  priests,  and  make 
religion  the  ally  of  despotism.  The  great  Formulator  of  Chris 
tianity  promulgated  the  principles  of  a  Democracy  more  radical 
than  has  yet  been  practiced  by  His  professed  disciples.  The  New 
Testament  is  the  text  book  of  freedom,  and  when  this  truth 
comes  to  be  fully  comprehended  by  the  people,  there  will  be  an 
end  to  tyrants  and  their  priestly  allies  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  If  we  mistake  not,  there  is  a  large  number  of  our  Ger 
man  fellow-citizens  to  whom  such  a  paper  as  the  Demokrat  will 
be  especially  serviceable,  in  enabling  them  to  discriminate  between 
the  Gospel  of  Liberty  and  Humanity,  and  that  detestable  system 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          17 

which  mockery  and  king-craft  have  substituted  for  it.  As  a 
matter  of  course,  infidelity  to  such  a  system  is  the  first  and  neces 
sary  step  towards  fidelity  to  the  truth,  in  its  simplicity  and 
purity.  But  that  truth  is  not  a  mere  negation  of  error,  it  is  affirma 
tive  of  progress  and  reform — it  is  revolutionary  and  aggressive. 
It  will  'turn  and  overturn,  until  He  whose  right  it  is  shall  reign'. 
Eighteen  centuries  ago  the  voice  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man 
spake,  uttered  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  the  prophecy  of  the 
inspired  Hebrew  poet.  'The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  be 
cause  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor; 
He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliver 
ance  to  the  captive,  and  recovering  the  sight  to  the  blind,  and  to 
set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised.'  And  as  he  closed  the  sacred 
scroll,  He  said:  'This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears.' 
This  was  the  birth-hour  of  Democracy.  The  free  and  holy  element 
of  Christianity  entered  into  a  world  of  evil  to  overcome  that  evil 
with  good,  to  vindicate  the  brotherhood  of  the  human  family,  to 
disclose  the  awful  intimacy  of  the  relation  which  each  member 
of  that  family  sustains  to  the  Universal  Father,  where  love  and 
paternal  care  have  'no  respect  of  persons',  to  smite  to  earth  all 
distinctions  between  man  and  man,  inconsistent  with  an  equal  par 
ticipation  in  the  blessings  of  life  and  liberty.  Wherever  that 
Gospel,  in  its  original  purity  and  power,  has  had  free  course,  it 
has  melted  off  the  chains  of  slaves,  and  opened  prison  doors, 
awakening  new  hopes  and  lofty  aspirations,  the  consciousness  of 
an  immortal  nature,  the  knowledge  of  inalienable  rights  as  the 
gift  of  God.  A  resurrection,  indeed,  of  the  dead — the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  touching  the  dry  bones  of  the  valley  as  in  the  vision  of 
Ezekiel,  and  clothing  them  with  the  life  and  strength  of  liberty. 
Herein  lies  the  hope  of  reformers,  European  Liberals  and  Ameri 
can  Abolitionists;  and  it  argued  well  for  its  success  that  the 
National  Demokrat  has  entered  upon  its  labors  with  a  full  appre 
ciation  of  this  truth." 

J.  G.  W. 
CARL  SCHURZ. 

Whittier  admired  Carl  Schurz,  but  Mr.  Pickard  doubts  if 
the  poet  ever  really  met  him.     His  autograph  is  in  an  album  at 


1 8          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Amesbury,  but  the  name  was  signed  in  the  Senate  Chamber  at 
Washington. 

Whittier  speaks  of  a  report  of  Schurz  in  an  unpublished 
letter18  to  Charles  Sumner,  dated  Amesbury,  8th,  2nd  mo.,  1866: 

"I  have  to  thank  thee  for  Gen.  Carl  Schurz's  Report.  What 
an  absurd  introduction  to  it  is  the  executive  meeting." 

In  Whittier's  letter,19  written  at  the  time  of  the  Freiligrath 
Anniversary,  1877,  he  says:  "The  bells  are  ringing  in  the  new 
Republican  President  Rutherford  Hayes,  in  whose  cabinet  the 
German  born  Carl  Schurz  has  a  place." 

WHITTIER  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 
Ritner. 

In  1836  Whittier's  friend,  Mr.  Thayer,  urged  him  to  come 
to  Philadelphia  to  engage  in  a  newspaper  enterprise,  The  Penn 
sylvania  Freeman.  The  following  letter  from  Whittier,  Ames- 
bury,  3 ist  of  3rd  month,  1837,  shows  his  reasons  for  going  to 
Philadelphia : 

"Our  friends  in  Boston  are  fully  persuaded  that  the  grand 
battle  is  now  to  be  fought  in  Pennsylvania,  between  mobocracy 
(excited  by  the  slave-holding  influence  of  Virginia  and  Mary 
land,  and  by  the  President's  outrageous  and  abominable  senti 
ments  expressed  in  his  inaugural  message)  and  the  friends  of 
liberty.  One  word,  sub  rosa :  If  Ritner20  can  be  sustained  in  his 
own  state,  the  entire  North,  save  New  Hampshire  and  Maine, 
would  go  for  him  for  the  Presidency."21 

In  1837  Whittier  went  to  Harrisburg  as  a  delegate  to  attend 
the  State  Anti-Slavery  Convention  and  was  one  of  the  com- 


18  Original  letter  in  the  Harvard  Library. 

19  The  whole  letter  is  quoted  later  in  the  chapter  on  Freiligrath. 

20  Joseph  Ritner,  a  Pennsylvania  German,  was  Governor  of  Pennsylvania 
from  December  15,  1835,  to  January  15,  1839.     His  father  came  from  Alsace 
and  settled  on  a  farm  in  Berks  County,  where  Joseph  was  born  March  25, 
1780.     From   1820-26  he  was  a  member  of  the   State  Legislature  and  twice 
Speaker  of  the  House.     In  1835  he  was  elected  Governor.     He  was  one  of 
the  originators  of  the   Pennsylvania   school   system;   he  was  outspoken,   not 
afraid   to   stand   strongly   for  what  he   considered  the  best    for   his   country 
and  though  a  Jackson  Democrat,  did  not  hesitate  to  strongly  denounce  slavery 
in  his  first  message  in  1836. 

"Pickard,  Life  and  Letters,  page  157'. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          19 

mittee  who  drafted  the  constitution  of  the  Society.  A  letter  from 
Harrisburg  to  his  sister  Elizabeth,  dated  3rd  of  2nd  month,  1837, 
says : 

"I  left  Philadelphia  on  Seventh-day  in  a  double  sleigh  with 
Dr.  Dilwyn  Parish,  Charles  Evans  and  Edward  M.  Davis,  son- 
in-law  of  Lucretia  Mott.  That  day  we  got  to  Coatesville, 
.  The  next  morning  we  started  again,  passed  through  the 
large  ill-looking  town  of  Lancaster,  the  fine  village  of  Mount 
Joy,  the  beautiful  Friends'  Meeting  House  of  Colne  and  stopped 
all  night  at  Middletown,  about  twelve  miles  from  Harrisburg. 
After  a  fine  ride  of  two  hours  along  the  banks  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  and  by  the  beautiful  quarries  of  marble  of  all  hues  and 
descriptions,  amidst  a  population  of  broad-faced  Germans,  we 
caught  the  first  view  of  the  fine  bridge  spanning  the  noble  river. 
I  spent  an  evening  with  Governor  Ritner,  who  is  a  warm-hearted 
abolitionist.  He  is  about  sixty  years  of  age,  large  and  full-faced. 
He  came  to  the  door  when  we  knocked,  himself,  shook  us  heartily 
by  the  hand,  and  in  German  accents  told  us  he 'wast  glad  to  see  us'. 
He  is  very  intelligent,  is  perfectly  at  home  on  most  subjects, 
especially  in  regard  to  matters  pertaining  to  abolition."22 

"Philadelphia, 
5th,  2nd  mo.,  1837, 

at  A.  W.  Thayers. 

"We  got  back  last  night  about  four  o'clock  from  Harris 
burg.  We  stopped  at  Lancaster  to  take  breakfast." 

The  poems  that  grew  out  of  the  poet's  interest  in  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  in  Pennsylvania  were:  Ritner,  1837;  The  Pennsyl 
vania  Pilgrim,  1872  ;  and  Hymn  of  the  Dnnkers,  1878. 

The  poem  to  Ritner2*  appeared  in  The  Liberator,  March  24, 
1837,  entitled  Lines.  The  poem  has  the  following  introduction: 

"Written  on  reading  the  message  of  Governor  Ritner,  of 
Pennsylvania,  1836.  The  fact  redounds  to  the  credit  and  serves 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  independent  farmer  and  high 
souled  statesman,  that  he  alone  of  all  the  governors  of  the  Union 


23  Whittier  Letters,  published  by  John  Albree,  Salem,  Mass.,  1911,  page  46. 
23  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  275. 


2o          Wkiitier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

in  1836  met  the  insulting  demands  and  menaces  of  the  South  in 
a  manner  becoming  a  freeman  and  hater  of  slavery,  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania." 

In  the  first  stanza  Whittier  pays  the  highest  tribute  to  Ritner 
as  a  man ;  and  in  the  sixth  stanza  to  his  German  ancestors,  who 
first  dared  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  slave : 

"Thank  God  for  the  token !  one  lip  is  still  free, 
One  spirit  untrammelled,  unbending  one  knee ! 
Like  the  oak  of  the  mountain,  deep-rooted  and  firm, 
Erect,  when  the  multitude  bends  to  the  storm ; 
When  traitors  to  Freedom,  and  Honor,  and  God, 
Are  bowed  at  an  idol  polluted  with  blood ; 
When  the  recreant  North  has  forgotten  her  trust, 
And  the  lip  of  her  honor  is  low  in  the  dust, — 
Thank  God  that  one  arm  from  the  shackle  has  broken ! 
Thank  God,  that  one  man  as  a  freeman  has  spoken !" 

******* 

"And  that  bold-hearted  yeomanry,  honest  and  true, 
Who,  haters  of  fraud,  gave  to  labor  its  due; 
Whose  fathers,  of  old,  sung  in  concert  with  thine. 
On  the  banks  of  Swetara,  the  songs  of  the  Rhine,— 
The  German  born  pilgrims,  who  first  dared  to  brave 
The  scorn  of  the  proud  in  the  cause  of  the  slave  ;24 
Will  the  sons  of  such  men  yield  the  lords  of  the  South 
One  brow  for  the  brand,  for  the  padlock  one  mouth  ? 
They  cater  to  tyrants  ?  They  rivet  the  chain, 
Which  their  fathers  smote  off,  on  the  negro  again?" 

On  the  burning  of  Pennsylvania  Hall,  in  which  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  held  its  meetings,  by  a  mob,  May  17,  1838,  Gov 
ernor  Ritner  issued  a  proclamation  denouncing  the  work  of  the 
mob  and  offering  a  reward  for  the  arrest  of  the  law  breakers. 

In  The  Pennsylvania  Freeman,  8th  mo.,  2nd,  1838,  of  which 
Whittier  was  the  editor,  appeared  the  following : 

"The  late  number  of  The  Pittsburgh  Christian  Witness  con 
tains  a  letter  from  Joseph  Ritner  to  Henry  Hannan,  Correspond 
ing  Secretary  of  the  Western  Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Anti- 


24  The  German  Friends  of  Germantown  were  the  first  religious  body  in 
this  country  to  issue  a  protest  against  slavery  (1688). 


Whit-tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          21 

Slavery  Society,  which  we  publish  below.  A  letter  was  also 
addressed  to  General  D.  R.  Porter,  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
Governor,  but  who  has  not  seen  fit  to  answer  it. 

"  'Harrisburg,  April  5,  1838. 

"  'Sir : — The  letter  which  you,  as  Secretary  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Western  Division  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  addressed  to  me  on  the  27th  ult.  was  received  on 
the  3rd  inst.  By  direction  of  the  committee  you  ask  me  the  fol 
lowing  questions : 

"  *i.  Is  the  existence  of  Slavery  and  the  Slave  trade  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  in  conformity  to  the  principles  of  justice 
and  humanity,  and  accordant  with  the  genius  and  theory  of  our 
republican  institution  ? 

"  '2.  Does  Congress  possess  the  constitutional  power  to 
abolish  Slavery  and  the  Slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

"  '3.  Is  it  expedient  that  Congress  should  exercise  this  right 
and  abolish  Slavery  and  the  Slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  ? 

"  '4.  Are  you  in  favor  of  the  extension  of  the  right  of  jury 
trial  to  all  cases  involving  the  question  of  your  personal  liberty? 

"  '5.  Are  you  opposed  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the 
United  States  ? 

"  'To  these  three  inquiries  I  reply  by  referring  you  to  my 
annual  message  to  the  Legislature  at  the  commencement  of  the 
session  of  1836-37  and  by  stating  that  none  of  the  opinions  therein 
expressed  have  been  changed. 

"  'To  the  fourth  question  my  reply  is  that  I  am  in  favor  of 
extending  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  to  all  cases  involving  the 
question  of  personal  liberty,  with  the  single  restriction,  that  in 
cases  of  fugitives  from  labor  in  other  states  who  are  admitted 
to  be  slaves,  it  should  not  be  granted.  This  exception  I  believe 
to  be  due  to  the  sister  states  in  which  domestic  slavery  constitu 
tionally  exists  and  in  which  however  we  may  deplore  it  as  a  mis 
fortune,  we  are  bound  to  respect  it  as  a  constitutional  institution. 
This  exception  is  also  inevitable  from  the  nature  of  the  issue 
involved.  The  question  being  simply  one  of  slavery,  or  no  slavery ; 


22          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

of  course,  whenever  the  fact  is  admitted,  not  only  is  there  no 
need  of  further  investigation,  but  it  would  be  vexatious  to  the 
claimant  to  interpose  the  delay  of  a  jury  trial. 

"  'On  the  other  hand,  in  all  cases  in  which  a  reasonable  doubt 
of  the  fact  of  slavery  is  raised  by  affidavit,  I  would  be  decidedly 
in  favor  of  having  the  doubt  determined  by  a  jury.  Among  us, 
every  man  accused  of  crime,  however  vile  he  may  be,  is  pre 
sumed  to  be  innocent  till  convicted  by  a  jury.  Shall  we  be  less 
cautious  in  the  proceedings  which  are  to  consign  a  fellow  creature 
to  servitude  for  life,  than  in  those  which  will  perhaps  only  send 
him  to  idleness  for  a  month  in  the  county  jail? 

"  'In  reply  to  the  fifth  question — I  am  opposed  to  the  admis 
sion  of  Texas,  by  any  means,  at  any  time,  into  this  Union.  The 
annexed  copy  of  a  communication  sent  to  the  Legislature  on  the 
nth  day  of  January  last,  1838,  will  make  known  my  official 
opinion  on  this  subject. 

"  'I  am  sir,  your  fellow  citizen, 

"  'JOSEPH  RITNER. 
"  'MR.  HENRY  HANNAN, 

"  'Secretary,  etc.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

"  'To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Common 
wealth  of  Pennsylvania. 

"  'Gentlemen : — In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  Gov 
ernor  and  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  I  have  the 
honor  to  transmit  for  your  consideration,  the  accompanying  reso 
lution  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  that  state,  relative  to  the 
admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union. 

"  'Permit  me  to  say  that  while  we,  as  citizens  of  a  non-slave 
holding  state,  should  studiously  disavow  the  intention  and  avoid 
the  appearance  of  intermeddling  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in 
such  states  of  the  Union  as  labor  under  the  misfortune  of  its 
existence ;  yet  that  a  moral  obligation  rests  upon  us  to  oppose,  by 
every  constitutional  means,  the  spread  of  the  evil  in  this  Union. 
The  other  dangerous  consequence  to  be  expected  from  the  annexa 
tion  of  Texas,  set  forth  in  the  Rhode  Island  resolutions,  are  cer 
tainly  great  and  alarming,  but  this  is  the  most  serious  of  all.  The 


Whittled  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          23 

present  is  a  most  proper  juncture  for  legislative  and  other  expres 
sions  of  public  opinion  on  the  subject. 

"  'The  project,  if  seriously  countenanced  at  all  in  this  state, 
has  been  either  generally  concealed  or  disavowed  by  all  parties. 
The  public  mind  is  therefore  open  to  sound  reasoning  and  pre 
pared  for  right  action  on  the  subject. 

'  Tn  addition  to  the  claim  upon  your  attention,  which  the 
matter  possesses,  as  coming  from  the  Legislature  of  a  sister  state, 
its  own  grave  import  and  the  suitableness  of  the  present  time 
for  action,  seem  to  demand  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the 
citizens  of  this  state  upon  it,  through  you  their  representation. 
"  'Executive  Chamber, 

"  'Harrisburg,  January  n,  1838.'  " 

In  the  summer  of  1839,  Henry  B.  Stanton  and  John  G.  Whit- 
tier  were  sent  by  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  on  a  tour 
through  Pennsylvania  to  employ  seventy  public  speakers  in  the 
interests  of  abolition.  They  visited  especially  theological  schools 
and  other  institutions  of  learning.  One  of  these  was  the  Lutheran 
Institution  on  Seminary  Ridge  at  Gettysburg.  A  letter25  to  Eliza 
beth  J.  Neall,  of  Philadelphia,  written  from  Carlisle,  Pa.,  July 
8,  1839,  says: 

"Why  didn't  we  get  the  breakfast  at  325  Arch,  according 
to  promise?  Why  for  a  very  good  reason,  nay,  perhaps,  for  tzvo 
good  reasons,  i.  We  lay  abed  too  late.  2.  Perhaps  thee  did  also, 
and  if  we  had  called  at  the  hour  specified,  and  inquired  for  thee 
and  the  breakfast,  the  report  in  regard  to  both  might  have  been 
'non  est  invcntus'.  We  had  hardly  time  as  it  was  to  get  to  the 
car  office  and  secure  our  seats.  We  rode  about  two  hours  and 
stopped  at  a  dirty  Dutch  tavern  for  breakfast.  An  execrable  cup 
of  tea,  which  would  have  poisoned  a  Chinese  mandarin ;  ham, 
tough  and  solid  as  sheet  iron,  which  had  probably  been  smoked 
and  salted  annually  for  the  last  twenty  years ;  and  some  hot  cakes 
saturated  with  bad  butter,  greasy  and  heavy,  and  anti-Grahamish, 
constituted  our  wretched  fare.  It  was  such  a  'trick  upon  travelers' 
as  Yankee  landlords  would  have  been  ashamed  of.  ...  We 


35  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  pages  252-253. 


24          Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

got  to  Harrisburg  about  three  o'clock,  and  stopped  at  the  splendid 
hotel  Wilson,  on  Market  Street.  Yesterday  Stanton  lectured  twice, 
and  I  made  some  visits.  This  morning  we  spent  in  looking  up 
some  anti-slavery  matters,  and  at  three  o'clock  we  again  took 
the  cars  for  Carlisle.  Tomorrow,  if  nothing  happens,  we  shall 
go  to  Governor  Ritner's,  and  from  thence  we  shall  push  on  to 
Gettysburg  in  search  of  some  one  or  more  lecturers  to  talk  Dutch 
Abolition.  We  have  been  recommended  to  some  half  dozen 
Schloshen-burgers,  and  Quakenbosches,  and  Kakerspergers,  and 
Slambangers,  with  unpronounceable  Dutch  names  enough  to 
crack  the  jaws  of  any  Anglo-Saxon,  whom  we  hope  to  interest 
in  our  cause.  We  must  get  the  Germans  with  us,  by  some  means 
or  other.  These  middle  countries  are  full  of  Germans,  and  they 
are  on  this  subject  'thrice  dead  and  plucked  up  by  the  roots'.  They 
must  be  roused  up  by  all  events. 

"9th,  Third-day  morning.  We  have  just  returned  from  a 
ride  to  Governor  Ritner's  farm,  about  nine  miles  from  Carlisle. 
The  old  man  was  out  on  his  farm,  and  his  wife  and  daughters 
welcomed  us  with  great  hospitality.  The  Governor  soon  came 
in  in  his  working  dress.  We  stayed  about  one  hour  and  a  half, 
and  then  rode  back  to  Carlisle,  where  we  now  are.  This  afternoon 
we  start  for  Chambersburg  and  Gettysburg." 

In  the  number,  July  25,  1844,  of  The  Middlesex  Standard, 
published  at  Lowell,  Mass.,  of  which  Whittier  was  editor,  is  the 
following  editorial : 

"Governor  Ritner — Our  neighbor  of  The  Advertiser  states 
on  the  authority  of  a  Pittsburg,  Pa.  paper  that  Hon.  J.  Ritner,  late 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Hon.  T.  H.  Burrows  and  Judge 
Todd,  two  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  Governor  Ritner's 
administration,  have  declared  their  determination  not  to  vote  for 
Henry  Clay. 

"Our  neighbor  does  not  say  that  the  Governor  and  his  friends 
are  prepared  to  vote  for  'Polk  and  Texas'.  He  only  leaves  his 
readers  to  draw  such  an  inference.  That  Governor  Ritner,  and 
the  two  gentlemen  alluded  to,  have  signified  their  opposition  to 
Henry  Clay,  does  not  surprise  us — knowing  as  we  do  their  strong 
anti-slavery  tendencies.  But  the  editor  of  The  Advertiser  may 


Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          25 

rest  assured  that,  after  renouncing  Clay  on  the  ground  of  slave 
holding,  they  will  not  go  over  to  'Polk  and  Texas'.  They  will 
take  their  stand  with  the  Liberty  Party,  for  Birney  and  Morris. 
"In  1839  we  spent  an  hour  or  two  with  Governor  Ritner  at 
his  residence  near  Carlisle.  We  found  him  in  the  field,  hard  at 
work  with  coat  off  and  shirt  sleeves  rolled  up, — a  fine  manly 
specimen  of  an  intelligent  and  independent  farmer.  He  entered 
into  conversation,  with  great  freedom  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
and  avowed  himself  an  uncompromising  friend  to  the  slave.  We 
should  rejoice  to  welcome  such  a  man  into  the  ranks  of  Liberty, 
but  we  confess  that  we  have  strong  fears  that  he  will  be  induced, 
like  Cassius  M.  Clay,  to  vote  for  a  slave  holder  'this  time'. 
Thomas  H.  Burrows,  we  are  persuaded,  will  not  vote  for  Henry 

Clay." 

In  the  number  of  August  8th,  of  the  same  year,  is  the  fol 
lowing  in  the  editor's  column : 

"Governor  Ritner — The  Whig  papers  say  that  Governor  Rit 
ner  will  not  vote  for  Polk,  and  that  he  will  not  oppose  Clay.  Will 
he  vote  for  him?" 

In  the  article  in  his  prose  works  entitled  The  City  of  a  Day,'2Q 
Whittier  refers  to  his  trips  through  Pennsylvania  among  the  Ger 
mans  and  gives  an  account  of  an  odd,  old  character  amongst 
them,  named  Etzler. 

In  a  visit  to  Massachusetts  in  the  autumn  of  1838  he  wrote 
in  the  album  of  Mary  Pillsbury,  of  West  Newbury,  these  lines : 

"Think  of  me  then  as  one  who  keeps, 

Where  Delaware's  broad  current  sweeps, 
And  down  its  rugged  limestone  bed 

The  Schuylkill's  arrowy  flight  is  sped, 
Deep  in  his  heart  the  scenes  which  grace 

And  glorify  his  'native  place', 
Loves  every  spot  to  childhood  dear, 

And  leaves  his  heart  'untraveled'  here.; 
Longs  midst  the  Dutchman's27  kraut  and  greens 

For  pumpkin-pie  and  pork  and  beans. "27a 

M  Prose  Works  of  /.  G.  Whittier,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  I,  pages  353-4. 
27  Whittier  means  "Pennsylvania  Germans",  who  are  erroneously  called 
"Penna.  Dutch". 

2Tft  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  242. 


26          W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  FREEMAN. 

Whittier  edited  this  periodical  from  March  15,  1838,  until 
February  20,  1840,  when  ill-health  forced  him  to  resign  and 
return  to  New  England. 

From  time  to  time,  articles  on  the  anti-slavery  movement 
among  the  Germans,  appeared  in  its  columns,  mostly  accompanied 
by  remarks  from  the  editor. 

For  the  dedication  of  Pennsylvania  Hall,  May  15,  1838, 
Whittier  wrote  a  poem28  which  was  read  by  C.  C.  Burleigh  and 
which  appeared  in  The  Pennsylvania  Freeman,  Fifth  day,  Fifth 
month,  1838.  The  following  lines  again  pay  high  tribute  to  the 
German  settlers  of  Germantown,  Pa.,  in  their  stand  against 
slavery  : 

"Is  it  a  dream,  that  with  their  eyes  of  love, 
They  gaze  now  on  us  from  the  bowers  above  ? 
Lay's  ardent  soul,  and  Benezet  the  mild, 
Steadfast  in  faith,  yet  gentle  as  a  child, 
Meek-hearted  Woolman,  and  that  brother  band, 
The  sorrowing  exiles  from  their  'Fatherland', 
Leaving  their  homes  in  Kriesheim's  bowers  of  vine, 
And  the  blue  beauty  of  their  glorious  Rhine, 
To  seek  amidst  our  solemn  depths  of  wood 
Freedom  from  man,  and  holy  peace  with  God ; 
Who  first  of  all  their  testimonial  gave 
Against  the  oppressor,  for  the  outcast  slave, 
Is  it  a  dream  that  such  as  these  look  clown, 
And  with  their  blessing  our  rejoicings  crown?" 

In  the  number  for  5th  day,  /th  mo.,  1838,  appeared  a  letter 
of  Dr.  Schmucker,  President  of  Gettysburg  College.  The  fol 
lowing  editorial  note  explains  the  nature  of  the  letter : 

"We  give  below  from  The  Colonization  Herald  the  letter 
of  Dr.  Schmucker,29  President  of  the  Gettysburg  College,  declin 
ing  to  act  as  Vice-President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Colonization 


28  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poems  of  Whittier,  page  279. 

29  Dr.    Samuel    Simon    Schmucker    (1799-1873),    son    of    Johann    Georg 
Schmucker,  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,   1771.    Samuel  graduated  at  the   Uni 
versity  of  Pennsylvania  in  1817,  studied  divinity  at  Princeton  and  was  Lutheran 
pastor  at  New  Market,  Va.,  1820-26.   Together  with  his  father,  he  was  one  of 


Whitticr's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          27 

Society.  We  trust  the  name  of  the  able  and  learned  writer  will 
ere  long  be  ranged  with  those  of  the  Smiths  and  Birneys,  and 
Delavans,  and  Notts,  who  have  not  only  abandoned  Colonization, 
but  have  given  their  influence  to  the  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society." 

In  the  issue  of  the  paper  for  7th  mo.,  5th,  1838,  are  given 
the  resolutions  against  anti-slavery  passed  by  the  Franckean 
Lutheran  Synod  "convened  in  Onandaga  County,  New  York". 

In  the  edition  of  The  Freeman  for  7th  mo.,  5,  1838,  ap 
peared  an  interesting  article  on  the  German  Settlement  of  Zoar, 
Ohio,  copied  from  The  Cincinnati  Daily  Gazette. 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  nth  mo.,  15,  1838. 
German  Publications. 

"A  neat  pamphlet  of  eight  pages  entitled  What  is  Abolition? 
will  be  published  this  week  in  the  German  language  from  the 
press  of  our  friend  C.  F.  Stollmeyer,  editor  of  The  German 
National  Gazette  in  this  city.  It  will  be  followed  by  The  Extra 
Pennsylvania  Freeman  and  other  publications." 

Similar  notices  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  columns  of 
the  paper. 

In  the  Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  nth  mo.,  22,  1838, 
is  a  notice  from  the  Kent  Bugle  of  German  emigration  to  the 
Eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  and  of  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from 
their  location  there. 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  I2th  mo.,  20,  1838. 

Extract  From  an  Article  on:  The  Cause  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania. 

"The  demand  for  anti-slavery  publications  is  rapidly  increas 
ing.  Four  thousand  copies  of  the  first  of  a  series  of  tracts  in 
German,  entitled  What  is  Abolition?  have  been  distributed,  and 
another,  of  twelve  pages,  on  The  Moral  Condition  of  the  Slaves, 


the  founders  of  the  Lutheran  Synod  in  1820,  and  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Gettysburg  in  1826.  He  taught  at  Gettysburg  till  1830  and  was  its  president 
till  1864.  He  exerted  a  great  influence  on  the  community,  which  was  almost 
entirely  German. 


28          IV  hit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

has  just  been  issued  from  the  press.  Our  friends  in  Berks,  Lan 
caster,  Dauphin,  and  Bucks,  will,  we  trust,  send  in  their  orders 
immediately,  and  supply  their  German  neighbors." 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  2nd  mo.,  14,  1839. 
Extract  From  a  Letter  From  the  Editor. 

Boston,  2nd  mo.,  4,  1839. 

"The  cause  of  the  slave  is  safe  in  Massachusetts,  safe  as 
that  of  the  reformation  when  Luther  disagreed  with  Melancthon 
and  the  less  ardent  reformers."  .  .  .  Our  friends  here  look 
to  Pennsylvania  as  the  theatre  of  the  greatest  struggle  for  the 
ascendancy  of  abolition  principles  in  the  free  states." 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  2nd  mo.,  28,  1839. 

"We  have  received  an  interesting  letter  from  our  friend  C. 
F.  Stollmeyer,  who  has  undertaken  the  good  work  of  lecturing  in 
favor  of  abolition,  in  the  German  language.  It  is  dated  Doyles- 
town,  February  I9th.  He  mentions  a  meeting  which  is  attended 
at  a  schoolhouse  in  Rock  Hill,  Bucks  County,  for  free  discussion 
in  the  German  tongue,  on  the  question,  whether  slavery  in  the 
United  States  is  beneficial  or  not.  The  house  was  crowded,  about 
two  hundred  persons  being  present.  Three  judges  were  selected, 
Messrs.  Jacob  Appenzeller,  John  Hendrick,  and  Abraham  Fretz ; 
the  latter  being  one  of  the  County  Commissioners.  Mr.  Stoll 
meyer  addressed  the  audience  fiye  times  in  reply  to  the  argu 
ments  in  favor  of  the  advantages  of  slavery,  after  which  the  judge 
retired,  consulted  and  reported  their  unanimous  opinion,  that 
slavery  is  pernicious  to  the  United  States,  and  that  its  abolition 
would  be  a  benefit.  All  who  were  assembled  cheered  this  report 
and  much  gratification  was  expressed  with  the  discussion.  Says 
our  friend,  Stollmeyer,  T  hardly  remember  to  have  felt  such  real 
pleasure  as  on  that  evening.  I  saw  what  I  predicted,  that  the 
Germans  in  the  interior  of  this  state  have  sound  and  honest  feel 
ings,  and  will  not  oppose  the  labors  of  the  abolitionists.' 

"He  remarks  that  those  who  took  the  side  that  slavery  was 
beneficial,  declined  to  maintain  that  it  was  morally  justifiable. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          29 

"Mr.  Stollmeyer  applied  for  the  use  of  the  Mennonist  Meet 
ing  House  in  Doylestown.  Several  trustees  appeared  willing  that 
it  should  be  had,  but  two  clergymen  speakers  believed  that  such 
a  lecture  would  not  be  fit  for  their  church.  We  regret  that  such 
a  disposition  should  exist  among  preachers  of  a  society  which  we 
have  always  understood  to  be  opposed  to  slavery." 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  3rd  mo.,  14,  1839. 

From  the  Editorial  Column. 

"We  happened  to  be  in  one  of  our  public  reading-rooms  a 
few  days  since,  when  an  intelligent  German  of  this  city  came  in 
with  his  friend  who  had  recently  arrived  from  Europe.  The 
latter  in  looking  over  a  file  of  Georgia  papers,  and  seeing  several 
advertisements  of  men  for  sale,  with  the  usual  prints  accompany 
ing  them,  turned  to  his  friend  and  exclaimed,  'Is  it  possible  that 
you  sell  men  in  this  country?'  He  had  fled  from  despotism  and 
came  here  to  find  the  home  of  freedom,  and  an  advertisement  of 
men  for  sale,  as  cattle  are  advertised  in  his  native  country,  was  a 
thing  unexpected  and  strange." 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  8th  mo.,  n,  1838. 

In  a  long  editorial  where  the  announcement  is  made  that  the 
editor  is  back  again  at  his  post  after  his  absence,  and  discussing 
the  situation  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  England,  he  makes  use 
of  the  following  illustration : 

"There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  Calvin's  letters  to  Melancthon, 
written  at  a  period  when  the  fierce  divisions  of  the  Protestant 
Reformers  furnished  the  strongest  argument  against  them,  which 
is  especially  deserving  of  the  attention  of  abolitionists  of  present 
day.  'It  is  important,'  says  he,  'that  no  suspicion  of  the  divisions 
which  are  amongst  us,  should  descend  to  future  ages.  For  it 
would  be  ridiculous  beyond  imagination  that  after  having  broken 
with  all  the  world,  we  should  from  the  beginning  of  the  Reforma 
tion  agree  so  ill  among  ourselves.'  ' 


30          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Pennsylvania  Freeman,  5th  day,  7th  mo.,  25,  1839. 

"The  following  able  article  is  from  the  pen  of  C.  F.  Stoll- 
meyer,  Esq.,  editor  of  The  German  National  Gazette,  and  was 
published  in  his  paper  of  the  2Oth  inst.  It  has  been  translated 
for  the  Freeman.  The  letters  of  the  patriotic  martyr  to  the  cause 
of  German  liberty,  from  the  cells  of  a  despot's  prison,  cannot  but 
have  an  influence  upon  every  German  heart,  which  feels  an 
interest  in  the  freedom  and  welfare  of  the  'Fatherland'. 

"  'A  Voice  From  Germany. 
"  (G.  Seidenstickers  Views  of  American  Slavery. 

"  'Most  of  our  readers  are  acquainted  with  the  life  and  his 
tory  of  Seiclensticker,  one  of  the  martyrs  of  German  liberty.  They 
know  that  since  the  deplorable  days  of  the  Hanoverian  revolu 
tion  in  January,  1831,  he  has  lingered  in  the  prisons  of  Celle, 
although  his  crime  and  that  of  his  friends  is  no  other  than  to 
have  desired  what  the  signers  of  the  North  American  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  achieved  in  Political  Liberty  for  their 
Fatherland. 

"  'During  the  revolution  in  Gottingen,  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  enjoying  much  of  his  society ;  we  always  found  him  an  amiable 
friend,  and  a  man  fired  with  the  enthusiasm  for  liberty  and 
republican  institutions,  a  man  whom  no  obstacle  could  deter,  and 
who  never  lost  sight  of  the  realization  of  his  projects  and  the 
performance  of  his  duty.  Often,  when  the  courage  of  his  friends 
began  to  fail,  and  doubts  were  expressed  as  to  the  possible  success 
of  the  undertaking,  we  have  seen  him  point  to  America  and  place 
before  our  eyes  the  combats  and  victories  of  the  former  colonies. 
Alas,  he  has  been  disappointed ;  for,  cut  off  from  our  friends  and 
those  who  shared  our  opinions  in  other  parts  of  Hanover,  without 
assistance  from  Brunswick  and  Hesse,  we  were  obliged  to  yield 
to  force.  Many  of  our  friends  found  safety  in  flight  and  pro 
tection  in  foreign  lands,  but  Eggerling  and  Seiclensticker,  the 
most  active  members  of  the  Republican  party,  were  taken  and 
thrust  into  dungeons. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          31 

"  'All  the  humiliations  which  they  have  suffered  during  an  in 
quisitorial  examination  and  an  imprisonment  of  eight  years  in 
Celle,  have  not  been  able  to  crush  their  bold  spirits,  or  close  their 
hearts  against  the  misfortunes  of  others. 

"  'Forgetting  his  own  suffering,  Seidensticker  remembers  the 
misery  of  the  oppressed  slaves,  and  says  in  his  letter,  written  in 
prison : 

"  *  "Warmed  as  I  feel  with  sympathy,  every  time  that  such 
men  as  Mr.  Slade,  deputy  from  Vermont,  raise  their  voices  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  this  stain  of  infamy  upon  the  United  States ; 
yet  the  interest  in  American  institutions  and  the  confidence  in 
their  advantages  must  be  considerably  diminished,  nay  the  feel 
ings  of  every  philanthropist  must  be  outraged,  when  we  read 
speeches,  such  as  that  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  Senate,  and  those 
of  the  deputies  Wise  and  Legare,  for  Virginia  and  South  Caro 
lina;  but  above  all  that  of  Mr.  Campbell,  who  carried  his  inso 
lence  so  far  as  to  threaten  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  if  the  sub 
ject  of  emancipation  should  ever  be  alluded  to  again.  A  conduct 
so  base  should  properly  be  treated  as  high  treason  against  the 
honor  of  the  Union.  How  much  better  has  England  acted 
toward  those  of  her  colonies  where  slavery  was  still  in  existence." 

"  The  editor  of  the  Alte  nnd  Neue  Welt,  who  gives  an  ex 
tract  from  the  above  letter,  observes : 

"  '  "Who  can  deny  that  slavery  is  a  stain  of  infamy  on  the 
United  States?  Would  not  every  man  of  proper  feeling  wish 
to  see  it  wiped  off?  What  orator,  who  wishes  to  be  esteemed  by 
the  good,  and  not  to  be  branded  before  the  tribunal  of  humanity, 
would  prostitute  his  talents  to  the  defence  of  a  systematic  con 
tinuation  of  slavery  in  the  bosom  of  liberty?" 

"  'So  far  we  are  glad  to  coincide  with  him  and  we  are  only 
sorry  that,  whilst  he  considers  the  defence  of  a  systematic  con 
tinuation  of  slavery  unworthy  of  a  man  who  does  not  wish  to  be 
despised  by  the  good  and  branded  before  the  tribunal  of  humanity, 
he  does  not  recommend  a  systematic  abolition  of  this  stain  of 
infamy  upon  the  Union,  but  adds  the  following : 

"  '  "But  in  the  life  of  nations  theory  is  often  opposed  to  prac 
tice,  when  unmatured  heterogeneous  powers  are  to  be  combined, 


32          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

so  are  there  in  this  justly  far-famed  land  of  liberty  many  deep- 
rooted  evils  of  which  slavery  is,  perhaps,  the  worst,  and 
the  most  skillful  gardener  might  not  succeed  in  separating  sud 
denly  the  diseased  root  from  the  trunk,  without  causing  the  death 
of  the  tree,  which,  if  it  does  not  blossom  in  full  luxuriousness, 
nurtures  the  seed  of  many  an  excellent  fruit." 

"  'Mr.  Ludvigh  seems  to  believe  that  if  the  theory  of  the 
abolition  of  slavery  (which  he  compares  to  a  sick  root  of  the 
trunk  of  liberty)  was  to  be  reduced  to  practice  in  the  United 
States,  it  would  cause  the  death  of  the  Republic  (the  tree  of 
liberty). 

"  'What  has  brought  about  the  fall  of  Sparta  and  the  other 
Greek  republics,  as  well  as  of  proud  Rome  ?  A  system  of  slavery 
and  a  consequent  demoralization?  Why  has  the  Republic  of 
Switzerland  existed  for  more  than  five  hundred  years  surrounded 
by  monarchies  ?  Because  slavery,  the  root  of  demoralization  and 
despotism  has  never  been  tolerated  there.  Our  opinion,  which  is 
founded  upon  observations  of  the  natural  course  of  events,  is, 
that  the  curing  of  a  disease  produces  health,  not  death,  as  well 
in  the  body  of  man  as  in  the  body  of  the  state. 

"  'As  an  individual  suffers  when  his  body  is  diseased,  so  does 
the  citizen  suffer  from  the  malady  of  the  state,  when  wrong  is 
publicly  defended  by  those  who  are  charged  with  the  care  of  the 
state,  injustice  will  be  heaped  upon  injustice.  The  defence  of 
slavery  is  followed  by  the  refusal  of  the  right  of  petitioning,  a 
right,  the  violation  of  which  overthrows  the  principles  of  the 
republic.  The  servants  elected  by  the  people,  the  members  of 
Congress,  refused  to  listen  to  the  wishes  of  their  constituents, 
and  by  this  act  of  violence  assumed  the  character  of  dictators. 
Many  who  used  to  take  no  notice  of  the  events  at  Washington 
were  aroused  from  their  slumbers  and  perceived  the  threatening 
danger. 

"  'The  names  of  these  violators  of  the  constitution  are  written 
down  in  expungeable  characters  and  in  time  will  not  escape  the 
general  branding.  Already  the  personal  and  party  friends  of  these 
men  admit  this  act  to  have  been  a  blunder,  but  it  is  not  only  a 
blunder  but  an  act  of  villainy. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          33 

"  'But  what  are  the  best  means  to  wipe  away  this  stain  of  in 
famy  which  has  been  put  upon  us  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ?  Noth 
ing  but  a  recall  of  the  Athertonian  resolutions.  It  is  the  particular 
duty  of  every  German  citizen  to  do  his  utmost  that  this  recall 
take  place  speedily.  This  is  so  much  the  more  incumbent  upon 
us,  as  we  know  more  or  less  from  experience  the  meaning  of 
political  oppression  and  how  necessary  it  is  to  preserve  the  tender 
plant  of  liberty  from  blight  and  noxious  insects.  In  our  own 
political  views  we  care  more  for  principles  than  for  men,  as  most 
of  us  prefer  their  business  to  any  favors  which  a  president  or  gov 
ernment  can  bestow.  It  is  quite  indifferent  to  us,  who  fills  the 
seat  of  president,  if  we  have  only  the  security  that  the  principle 
is  not  endangered,  but  preserved  in  its  purity.  The  question  we 
ought  to  propose  at  the  election  of  officers  is  not, — are  you  a 
whig,  a  democrat  or  a  conservative?  but,  do  you  recognize  the 
equal  rights  of  all  men  ?  Will  you  be  governed  by  the  principles 
of  the  constitution  and  of  the  declaration  of  independence?  Is 
your  former  life  a  security  for  the  performance  of  your  promise? 
When  the  candidates  have  answered  these  questions  satisfactorily, 
let  the  Democrats  choose  democrats,  and  the  Whigs,  whig  candi 
dates.  Liberty  will  be  preserved  for  there  is  nothing  pernicious 
in  the  principles  of  either  party.  What  distinguishes  them  is  more 
of  a  personal  nature,  and  can,  when  the  existence  of  the  republic 
is  at  stake,  form  no  object  of  consideration.' ' 

Whittier  refers  to  this  letter  in  his  Prose  Works,29a  in  an 
Article  on  William  Leggett: 

"We  have  before  us,  at  this  time,  a  letter  from  Seidensticker, 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  patriotic  movement  in  behalf  of  German 
liberty  in  1831.  It  was  written  from  the  prison  of  Celle,  where 
he  had  been  confined  for  eight  years.  The  writer  expresses  his 
indignant  astonishment  at  the  speeches  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  and 
others  in  Congress,  on  the  slavery  question,  and  deplores  the  dis 
astrous  influence  of  our  great  inconsistency  upon  the  cause  of 
freedom  throughout  the  world — an  influence  which  paralyzes  the 
hands  of  the  patriotic  reformer,  while  it  strengthens  those  of  the 


Wa  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  213. 


34          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

oppressor,  and  deepens  around  the  living  martyrs  and  confessors 
of  European  democracy  the  cold  shadow  of  their  prisons." 

A  poem,  (which  appeared  in  the  paper  3  mo.,  10,  1841)  is 
an  example  of  Whittier's  vivid  pictures  of  things  that  he  has  seen 
only  through  the  eyes  of  his  friends  who  have  travelled  in  Europe. 

Poem  to  a  Friend  Returning  From  Europe. 

"Rhine  stream,  and  castle  old, 

Gray  tower  and  robher  hold 
In  the  dim  distance  !— 

Walls  which  the  Roman  laid— 
Towers  which  to  Gothic  blade 
Barbed  spear  and  arrow  made 
Sturdy  resistance."30 

J.  G.  W. 

BAYARD  TAYLOR. 

The  long  years  of  close  friendship  with  Bayard  Taylor, 
brought  our  poet  perhaps  into  deeper  touch  with  German  litera 
ture  and  thought  than  any  other  single  influence. 

Taylor  was,  like  Whittier,  of  Quaker  parentage.  He  was  of 
Pennsylvania  German  descent,  having  German  blood  in  his  veins 
from  both  his  grandmothers.  In  fact  his  father's  mother  always 
spoke  Pennsylvania  German  to  her  children. 

Taylor's  connection  with  Germany  is  too  well  known  to  make 
it  necessary  to  recount  it  here.  His  many  works  on  German  sub 
jects  were  well  known  to  Whittier.  In  fact  many,  if  not  all  of 
Taylor's  works,  were  presented  to  Whittier  by  the  author. 

The  friendship  of  the  two  poets  had  its  origin  in  Whittier's 
publishing  in  The  National  Era*1  of  August  19,  1847,  and  Pre~ 
facing  with  hearty  commendation,  Taylor's  poem,  The  Norse 
man's  Ride  from  The  Democratic  Review  of  November,  1846,  in 
which  it  had  appeared  anonymously.  In  1848  Taylor  took  a  holi- 


80  This  poem  is  included  in  the  collected  works,  Camb.  Ed.,  page  174.  The 
wording  has,  however,  been  somewhat  changed. 

31  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  326.  This 
article  of  Whittier's  in  the  National  Era  on  the  Norseman's  Ride,  together 
with  Taylor's  poem,  is  to  be  found  in  Whittier's  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edi 
tion,  Vol.  Ill,  pages  396-400,  entitled,  The  Poetry  of  the  North. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          35 

day  trip  to  Boston,  and  in  a  letter32  to  Mary  Agnew,  dated  New 
York,  October  13,  1848,  he  speaks  of  a  visit  to  the  poet  Whittier. 

The  introductory  paragraphs  of  Whittier's  review  in  The 
National  Era  for  July  4,  1850,  show  his  delight  in  Taylor's  tales 
of  travel  and  adventure : 

''When  the  work  and  care  of  daily  life  and  homely  duties 
and  the  weary  routine  of  sight  and  sound  oppress  us,  what  a  com 
fort,  and  refreshing  it  is,  to  open  the  charmed  pages  of  the 
traveller!  Our  narrow,  monotonous  horizon  breaks  away  all 
about  us,  five  minutes  suffice  to  take  us  quite  out  of  the  common 
place  and  familiar  regions  of  our  experience ;  we  are  in  the  court 
of  the  great  Kahn  .  .  .  taking  part  in  a  holy  fete  at  Rome, 
and  a  merry  Christmas  at  Berlin." 

Taylor  visited  New  England  many  times  after  this  and  spent 
many  happy  hours  at  Whittier's  home  in  Amesbury  and  many 
letters  passed  between  the  two  poets.  A  letter33  from  Whittier 
to  Taylor  from  Amesbury,  7th  mo.,  15,  1860,  says: 

"I  wish  I  were  a  better  traveler;  if  I  could  keep  pace  with 
you  I  would  join  you  at  the  mountains  instead  of  sending  this 
note.  I  travel  a  great  deal  however  by  proxy.  I  have  had  thee 
in  my  service  for  many  years,  very  much  to  my  satisfaction ;  Dr. 
Barth34  has  been  to  Timbucto  for  me,  and  Burton  to  Mecca; 
Atkinson  has  been  doing  Siberia  for  me.  I  think  (if  thy  Marie 
does  not  object)  of  sending  thee  off  to  Xanadu  and  Kubla  Khan. 
We  have  been  enjoying  thy  friend  Hans  Christian  Andersen's 
charming  Sand  Hills  of  Jutland.  The  Mud  King's  Daughter  is 
almost  equal  to  Undine. 

In  an  unpublished  letter35  to  James  T.  Fields  from  Whittier, 
dated  Amesbury  6,  ist  mo.,  1886,  he  says:  "Winter's  down  on 
us  here  in  earnest.  Bayard  Taylor  could  find  Lapland  here,  just 


32  Life  and  Letters  of  Bayard  Taylor,  by  Mrs.  Taylor  and  Horace  E. 
Scudder,  page  135- 

83  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  429 ;  the 
original  letter  is  in  possession  of  S.  T.  Pickard,  Amesbury,  Mass. 

34  Dr.  Heinrich  Barth  (1824-65). — A  German  explorer  and  traveler;  noted 
especially    for    his    explorations    in    Central    Africa.     Mr.    Pickard    has    mis 
quoted  the  name  in  his  Life  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  429. 

35  Letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields,  Boston,  Mass. 


36          W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

at  this  time,  without  taking  the  trouble  to  follow  in  the  tracks  of 
A f raja  over  the  Lap  mountains  as  he  tells  me  he  intends  to  do." 
In  1866,  Whittier  completed  his  Tent  on  the  Beach,  in  which 
he  says  in  a  letter  to  his  publisher  James  T.  Fields,  dated  Ames- 
bury,  1 2th  mo.,  28,  1866:  "I  have  represented  thee,  Bayard  Tay 
lor,  and  myself,  living  a  wild  tent  life  for  a  few  summer  days  on 
the  beach,  where  for  lack  of  something  better  I  read  my  stories  to 
you."36  And  to  Taylor  a  letter  dated  February  ist  says :  "I  must 
ask  Fields  to  send  thee  the  proof-sheets  of  the  Tent  on  the  Beach; 
and  I  here  beg  pardon  for  the  friendly  license  of  using  thee  as 
one  of  the  imaginary  trio  on  the  seashore.  I  hope  neither  thee 
nor  Marie  will  think  I  have  got  thee  into  bad  company.  And 
now,  dear  friend,  dear  to  me,  not  on  my  own  account  alone,  but 
on  that  of  my  dear  mother  and  sister,  who  loved  thee  so  well, 
may  God  bless  and  keep  thee  and  thine  during  your  European 
sojourn,  and  bring  you  safe  back  to  the  quiet  of  Cedarcroft."37 
With  this  letter  Mr.  Whittier  enclosed  a  stanza  from  his  Last 
Walk  in  Autumn,  written  in  1857,  in  which  he  had  already  paid 
a  tribute  to  his  traveller  friend : 

"Here  too,  of  answering  love  secure, 

Have  I  not  welcomed  to  my  hearth 
The  gentle  pilgrim  troubadour, 

Whose  songs  have  girdled  half  the  earth; 
Whose  pages,  like  the  magic  mat 

Whereon  the  Eastern  lover  sat, 
Have  borne  me  over  Rhine-land's  purple  vines 

And  Nubia's  tawny  sands,  and  Phrygia's  mountain  pines." 

The  completed  first  part  of  Faust  was  published  at  Boston 
by  Fields,  Osgood  &  Co.,  1870,  a  copy  of  which  Taylor  presented 
to  his  friend  Whittier  with  the  inscription  on  the  fly-leaf : 

"To  John  G.  Whittier,  with  the  love  of  his  friend,  Bayard 
Taylor,  December  14,  1870." 


86  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  507.  Orig 
inal  letter  owned  by  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields. 

37  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  508.  Orig 
inal  letter  owned  by  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          37 

A  letter38  from  Whittier  to  Taylor,  dated  Amesbury,  4th 
mo.,  19,  1871,  says:  "I  am  more  and  more  struck  with  thy  suc 
cess  in  the  versification  of  Faust,  thee  has  caught  the  very  spirit 
and  tone  of  the  master  himself." 

In  honor  of  the  publication  of  the  book,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fields 
gave  a  dinner  to  Taylor  and  his  wife,  inviting  a  number  of  their 
literary  friends.  Whittier  was  among  the  invited  guests  and 
wrote  a  letter39  of  thanks  to  Fields  in  which  he  says : 

"It  would  be  pleasant  to  sit  down  with  thy  special  guest, 
my  dear  friend  Taylor,  and  with  others  whose  poetical  shoe 
strings  I  hold  myself  unworthy  to  untie ;  the  wisest  of  philosophers 
and  most  genial  of  men  from  Concord ;  the  architect  of  the  only 
noteworthy  'Cathedral'  in  the  New  World;  and  his  neighbor, 
the  far  travelled  explorer  of  Purgatory  and  Hell,  and  the  scarcely 
less  dreary  Paradise  of  the  great  Italian  dreamer.  I  would  like 
to  join  with  them  in  congratulation  of  our  Pennsylvania  Friend, 
who  introduces  to  English-speaking  people  the  great  masterpiece 
of  Teutonic  literature.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  is  precisely  the 
man  of  all  others  to  do  it.  In  the  first  place,  though  he  labors 
under  the  misfortune  of  not  having  been  born  in  sight  of  Boston 
meeting-house,  he  inherits  from  his  ancestry  the  Quaker  gift  of 
spiritual  appreciation  and  recognition,  the  belief  not  only  in  his 
own  revelations,  but  in  those  of  others.  In  the  second  place,  he 
is  a  poet  himself.  Thirdly,  he  has  studied  man  and  nature  in  all 
lands  and  in  all  phases;  and  fourthly,  he  has  brought  himself 
into  the  closest  possible  association  with  the  culture  and  senti 
ment,  the  intellect  and  the  heart  of  the  Germany  of  Goethe,  by 
bringing  under  his  roof-tree  at  Cedarcroft  an  estimable  country 
woman40  of  Charlotte  and  Margaret,  Natalie  and  Dorothea.  The 
best  translation  of  Tasso  is  that  of  the  Quaker  Wiffin,  and  now 
we  have  the  best  of  Goethe  from  the  Quaker-born  Taylor.  With 


38  Original  letter  in  possession  of  S.  T.  Pickard,  Amesbury,  Mass. 

39  Life  and  Letters  of  Bayard  Taylor,  by  Marie  Hansen  Taylor  and  Horace 
E.  Scudder,  page  543.    Original  letter  owned  by  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields. 

40  In  1887,  Taylor  was  married  to  Marie  Hansen,  the  daughter  of  Peter 
Andreas  Hansen,  eminent  astronomer  and  director  of  the  Ducal  Observatory 
at  Gotha,  Germany. 


38  Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

something  of  pride  therefore,  I  stretch  out  my  congratulatory 
hand,  and  thank  him.  God  bless  him,  or  to  use  the  words  made 
sacred  by  the  memory  of  one  dear  to  us  all,  'God  bless  us  every 
one.'  " 

In  1872  Whittier  published  his  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim  and 
sent  Taylor  a  copy  of  it.  A  letter41  from  Taylor  to  Whittier, 
dated  Gotha,  Germany,  December  30,  1872,  says:  "The  Penn 
sylvania  Pilgrim  came  to  me  as  a  Christmas  gift,  all  the  more 
welcome  because  so  unexpected.  I  have  just  finished  reading  it, 
and  can  now  return  intelligent  thanks  for  your  thoughtful  kind 
ness  in  sending  the  volume  so  far.  Yet  one  reading  cannot 
exhaust  the  fullness  of  meaning  and  of  feeling  in  the  chief  poem. 
I  was  not  more  attracted  by  the  story  of  Pastorius  (of  whom 
I  knew  almost  nothing)  than  by  the  warm,  bright  background  of 
tolerance  and  mellow  humanity  upon  which  his  figure  is  drawn. 
The  latter  is  like  the  ground  of  dead  gold  which  the  early  Italian 
painters  gave  to  the  forms  of  their  saints,  only  more  luminous. 
But,  mixed  with  my  delight  in  the  poem  from  first  to  last,  there 
is  a  feeling  of  surprise  which  I  can  only  explain  by  telling  you 
what  I  have  been  doing.  Three  months  ago  I  was  moved  to  begin 
a  narrative  poem,  the  conception  of  which  had  been  haunting  my 
mind  for  five  or  six  years.  Once  begun,  I  could  not  leave  the 
subject.  I  dropped  all  other  work  and  by  the  beginning  of 
November  had  finished  an  idyllic  narrative  poem  of  more  than 
2100  lines,  in  blank  verse.  The  title  is  Lars,  and  the  scene  is  laid 
partly  in  Norway  and  partly  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware. 

"I  have  brought  Quaker  peace  and  Berserker  rage  into  con 
flict,  and  given  the  triumph  to  the  former.  The  one  bit  of  fact 
out  of  which  the  poem  grew  is  the  circumstance  that  there  is, — 
or  at  least  there  was, — a  small  community  of  Friends  at  Arendal 
in  Norway.  The  story  is  wholly  of  my  own  invention.  Now 
in  describing  a  'silent  meeting'  I  have  expressed  the  same  thought 
which  I  find  in  the  Pilgrim— 

The  gathered  stillness  multiplied 
And  made  intense  by  sympathy/ 

41  Life  and  Letters  of  Bayard  Taylor,  by  Marie  Hansen  Taylor  and  Horace 
E.  Scudder,  page  610. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          39 

And  the  conclusion  of  my  poem  is  exactly  the  same  thought,  in 
other  words,  as  the  conclusion  of  yours.  I  will  quote  from  my 
MS: 

Though  the  name  of  Lars 
Be  never  heard,  the  healing  of  the  world 
Is  in  the  nameless  saints.   Each  separate  star 
Seems  nothing,  but  a  myriad  scattered  stars 
Break  up  the  night,  and  make  it  beautiful.' 

It  is  pleasant  to  me  to  know  that  we  have  both  been  busy  with 
the  same,  or  kindred  thoughts.  When  I  sent  the  MS  of  my  poem 
to  Osgood  three  weeks  ago,  I  also  sent  a  dedicatory  poem,42  which 
is  more  than  ever  justified  by  this  coincidence.  I  requested 
Osgood  to  let  you  see  the  MS,  or  the  proofs,  if  there  should  be 
opportunity.  But  if  any  charge  of  plagarism  is  made,  it  will 
fall  upon  me!  The  absence  of  music,  color,  and  external  graces 
makes  the  Quaker  a  difficult  subject  for  poetry,  unless  the  latter 
touches  only  his  spiritual  side,  which  I  have  endeavored  to  do.  I 
depend  on  my  Norwegian  characters  for  whatever  external  pic- 
turesqueness  seemed  to  be  necessary.  I  feel  sure  that  there  are 
some  things  in  the  poem  which  you  will  like,  and  I  hope  there  may 
be  nothing  in  it  to  make  the  dedication  unwelcome.  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  say  that  I  cried  over  many  passages  while  writing. 

"The  collection  of  materials  for  my  Biography  of  Goethe 
goes  rapidly  on,  but  the  work  itself  must  be  done  slowly.  I  shall 
take  my  time  to  it,  and  meanwhile  be  able,  I  hope,  to  work  out 
other  poetic  ideas  which  are  waiting  for  their  turn.  After  many 
wanderings  of  mind  and  fancy,  I  seem  to  have  found  my  true 
field :  at  least  I  am  happy  in  my  work,  as  never  before. 

"Three  weeks  ago  I  gave  a  lecture  here  in  German,  on  Ameri 
can  Literature,  in  aid  of  a  charitable  society  of  women.  It  was 
my  first  experiment  of  the  kind,  but  proved  to  be  successful. 
Among  other  quotations  I  read  an  excellent  translation  of  your 


43  The  poem  of  Lars  was  dedicated  to  Whittier ;  for  this  dedication  see 
Bayard  Taylor's  Poems,  Household  Edition,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company, 
Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  page  302. 


4O          W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Song  of  the  Slaves  in  the  Desert,43  which  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  audience.  I  have  several  times  since  then  been  called 
upon  to  read  it  in  private  circles. 

"We  shall  go  to  Switzerland,  perhaps  to  Italy,  for  two  or 
three  months,  and  then  come  back  here  again  to  my  labors.  If 
you  should  be  able  to  read  my  Lars  within  a  month  after  getting 
this,  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  what  impression  it  makes  upon  the 
one  v/ho  was  most  in  my  mind  as  I  wrote." 

Whittier,  in  a  letter44  to  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields,  says  of  Tay 
lor's  poem  Lars: 

"In  regard  to  Bayard's  poetry,  I  loved  the  man  so  much  that 
I  could  never  criticise  his  verse.  Lars  is  his  best  long  poem. 
It  seems  to  me  worthy  of  a  place  with  Hermann  and  Dorothea 
and  Evangeline.  But  what  a  brave  worker  he  was." 

The  manuscript  of  Taylor's  German  lecture,  to  which  he 
refers  in  the  letter  to  Whittier,  is  now  in  the  University  of  Penn 
sylvania.  The  reference  to  Whittier  in  the  lecture  is  as  follows : 

Amerikanische  Dichter  und  Dichtkunst. 

"Nicht  weit  davon  am  Ufer  des  Merrimacflusses  (Con 
cord,  Mass.),  steht  ein  bescheidenes  Hauschen,  bewohnt  seit 
vierzig  Jahren  von  dem  Quakerdichter  Whittier,  welcher  wieder- 
holt  glanzende  politische  Auszeichnungen  ausgeschlagen  hat,  um 
seiner  Muse  treu  zu  bleiben.  Aber,  werden  sie  vielleicht  fragen, 
sind  wir  Amerikaner  f  ahig  diese  Enthaltsamkeit  zu  wiirdigen  ?  Ja, 
antworte  ich,  und  ganz  besonders,  weil  solche  Auszeichnung  mghr 
gilt  in  einem  Land,  wo  es  keine  erblichen  Titel  giebt.  .  .  .  Etwas 
abseits  von  Boston,  in  der  Nahe  eines  kleinen  Fabrikstadtchens, 
lebt  Whittier,  ein  echter  Quaker  und  ein  echter  Dichter.  Er  ist 
eine  merkwiirdige  Erscheinung  in  unserer  Literaturgeschichte. 
An  Feuer,  Kraft  und  Kampfesdrang  stehen  seine  Jugendgedichte 
kaum  denen  von  Korner  nach.  Er  war  ein  Peter  der  Eremit,  der 
den  ganzen  Norden  zum  Kreuzzug  gegen  die  Sclaverei  aufrief. 


43  This  translation  is  by  Adolph  Strodtman  and  is  in  his  Amerikanische 
Anthologie,  Leipzig,  page  124. 

44  The  original  letter  is  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Annie  Fields,  Boston  Mass. 
The  letter  is  dated  Amesbury  27,  9  mo.,  but  the  year  is  not  given. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          41 

Unerschrocken,  unermiidet  ertrug  er  Missachtung,  Schimpf  und 
Spott ;  f iinf undzwanzig  Jahre  lang  ward  ihm  nur  von  einem  klei- 
nen  Kreise  seiner  Kampf-  und  Glaubensgenossen  Anerkennung 
zu  Theil,  bis  endlich  die  Macht  der  Sclaverei  den  Schritt  wagte, 
der  zu  ihrem  Untergang  fiihrte.  Dann  mit  einem  Male  stand 
Whittier's  Name  leuchtend  vor  den  Augen  der  Nation.  Aber 
nichts  vermochte  ihn  aus  seiner  Zuriickgezogenheit  zu  ziehen. 
Die  angebotenen  Ehren  lehnte  er  ab;  Ruhm  und  Reichtum  such- 
ten  ihn  auf ,  anderten  aber  in  keiner  Hinsicht  sein  einfaches  Leben. 
Oft  habe  ich  unter  seinem  Dache  geruht,  oft  seiner  tiefen,  inni- 
gen  Stimme  gelauscht,  und  in  seine  reine,  herrliche  Seele  ge- 
schaut. 

"Gross,  schlank,  mit  hoher,  schmaler  Stirn  und  feurigen, 
dunkeln  Augen,  kommt  er  mir  immer  vor  wie  ein  Araberhaupt- 
lirig.  Er  ist  jetzt  vierundsechzig  Jahre  alt,  aber  die  Flamme  sei 
ner  Begeisterung,  wenn  auch  ruhiger,  brennt  noch  immer.  Seine 
spatesten  Gedichte  sind  seine  vollkommensten,  und  so  lang  er 
lebt,  wird  er  dichten. 

"Besonders  hat  Whittier  unsere  Literatur  durch  vaterlandi- 
sche  Balladen  bereichert.  Die  karge  Romantik  unseres  Kiisten- 
landes  hat  er  vor  der  Vergessenheit  bewahrt.  Skandinavische 
Vikings,  franzosische  Ritter,  spanische  Abenteuerer  und  ernste 
Puritaner  sind  in  seinen  Strophen  verherrlicht,  und  durch  ihn 
sind  ihre  Thaten  Gemeingut  des  Volkes  geworden.  Ich  muss 
mich  wundern,  dass  eine  Sammlung  dieser  Balladen  nicht  schon 
langst  in  deutscher  Ubersetzung  erschienen  ist.  Seine  Schilderun- 
gen  sind  hochst  lebendig  und  malerisch,  und  seine  Sprache  hat 
eine  seltene  Melodic.  Ein  so  echter  Quaker  er  ist,  verschwindet 
jede  Spur  des  niichternen  Quakerwesens,  sobald  sein  Geist  sich 
dichterisch  bewegt.  Ich  habe  nur  eine  Ubersetzung  gefunden, 
welche  seine  Lyrik  geniigend  charakterisirt — den  Gesang  der 
Sklaven  in  der  Wilste.  Da  das  Gedicht  kurz  ist,  werde  ich  es 
Ihnen  vorelsen;  das  Wort  Rubie,  welches  in  dem  Refrain  vor- 
kommt,  ist  arabisch,  und  bedeutet  'Mein  GottV 

Taylor  speaks  again  of  this  lecture  on  American  Literature 


42  Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

given  by  him  later  in  Weimar,  in  a  letter45  to  E.  C.  Stedman, 
dated  Gotha,  January  16,  1874. 

"My  lecture  was  a  great  triumph.  It  was  given  in  the  hall 
of  the  Arquebusiers,  a  society  dating  from  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  whole  court  came,  Grand-Duke  and  Duchess,  Hereditary 
Grand-Duke  and  Duchess,  the  two  charming  Princesses,  and 
Prince  Hermann,  with  adjutants  and  ladies  of  honor.  The 
Grand-Duke  came  up  to  me  with  a  mock  reproach,  and  said: 
'There's  one  serious  fault  in  the  lecture :  you  have  not  mentioned 
yourself!  But  come  and  dine  with  me  tomorrow  and  we'll  talk 
about  it,'  which  I  did.  The  dinner  was  superb;  two  Weimar 
friends  of  mine  were  invited,  otherwise  only  the  family.  I 
assure  you  it  gave  me  a  thrill  of  pride  to  stand  in  Weimar,  with 
the  grand-children  of  Carl  August,  Goethe,  Schiller,  Herder,  and 
Wieland  among  my  auditors,  and  vindicate  the  literary  achieve 
ment  of  America.  I  lashed  properly  the  German  idea  of  the 
omnipotency  of  money  among  us ;  recited  passages  from  Halleck, 
Poe,  Emerson,  Bryant,  and  Whittier,  and  said  a  good  word  for 
E.  C.  S.,  R.  H.  S.,  T.  B.  A.,  and  W.  D.  H.  The  lecture  seems  to 
have  made  considerable  impression,  as  an  account  of  it  has  since 
gone  the  rounds  of  most  of  the  German  papers." 

For  Whittier's  seventieth  birthday  The  Literary  World  pub 
lished  in  its  columns  tributes  from  authors  all  over  the  country. 
Among  these  was  a  poem  from  Taylor  called  A  Friend's 
Greeting  *Q 

In  Whittier's  Prose  works47  is  a  fitting  memorial  of  their 
friendship  which  was  read  at  the  Bayard  Taylor  memorial  meet 
ing  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  January  10,  1879,  the  year  after 
the  latter's  death.48 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  PILGRIM  (1872). 

Whittier  was  no  doubt  led  to  choose  the  Founder  of  Ger- 
mantown  as  the  subject  of  so  long  a  poem,  because  of  the  im- 

45  Life  and  Letters  of  Bayard  Taylor,  by  M.  H.  Taylor  arid  H.  E.  Scudder, 
page  640. 

49  This  poem  may  be  found  in  Taylor's  Poetical  Works,  Household  Edi 
tion,    Houghton,    Mifflin    &    Company,    Riverside    Press,    Cambridge,    Mass., 
page  206. 

47  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  page  281. 

*8  Taylor  died  November  19,  1878,  while  serving  as  Minister  to  Germany. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          43 

portant  fact,  that  the  first  protest  against  slavery  in  America 
came  from  the  Germantown  Friends  of  whom  Pastorius  was  the 
leader. 

In  his  long  note49  to  the  poem,  Whittier  gives  as  a  further 
reason  for  his  choosing  Pastorius  as  theme : 

'The  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  have  not  lacked  historian  and 
poet.  Justice  has  been  done  to  their  faith,  courage,  and  self- 
sacrifice  and  to  the  mighty  influence  of  their  endeavors  to  estab 
lish  righteousness  on  the  earth.  The  Quaker  pilgrims  of  Penn 
sylvania,  seeking  the  same  object  by  different  means,  have  not 
been  equally  fortunate.  The  power  of  their  testimony  for  truth 
and  holiness,  peace  and  freedom,  enforced  only  by  what  Milton 
calls  vthe  irresistible  might  of  meekness,'  has  been  felt  through 
two  centuries  in  the  amelioration  of  penal  severities,  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  the  reform  of  the  erring,  the  relief  of  the  poor  and 
suffering, — felt,  in  brief,  in  every  step  of  human  progress.  But 
of  the  men  themselves,  with  the  single  exception  of  William 
Penn,  scarcely  anything  is  known.  .  .  ./Yet  it  must  be  ap 
parent  to  every  careful  observer  of  the  progress  of  American 
civilization  that  its  two  principal  currents  had  their  sources  in 
the  entirely  opposite  directions  of  the  Puritan  and  Quaker 
colonies." 

"The  poet  is  very  merciful  toward  the  Massachusetts 
Puritan,  when  he  has  to  bring  them  into  contrast  with  these 
Pennsylvania  Quakers,  his  kindness  even  prompting  him  to 
charge  something  of  the  intolerant  temper  of  the  Puritans  to 
the  Boston  East  winds,  whose  fretting  and  demoralizing  influence 
they  had  to  bear.  The  Philadelphia  skies  were  tender  and 
caressing."50 

Why  he  gave  the  poem  the  New  England  title  of  Pilgrim 
and  ignored  the  name  of  Pastorius,  we  know  from  letters  which 
he  wrote  to  his  publisher,  James  R.  Osgood,  May  24,  1872: 

"I  am  half  inclined  to  think  it  would  be  best  to  print  my 
poem,  a  part  of  which  I  showed  thee,  in  a  volume  by  itself.  It 

"Cambridge  Edition  of  J.  G.  Whittier's  Poems,  page  519. 
50  Eulogy  by  Edwin  D.  Mead,  in  Memorial  of  J.  G.  Whittier  from  Haver- 
hill,  Mass.,  1893. 


44          Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

contains  about  five  hundred  lines,  divided  into  verses  of  three 
lines,  and  with  the  introduction  and  notes  will  make  nearly  fifty 
pages,  or  about  the  size  of  Snow  Bound.  I  have  added  a  good 
deal  to  it  and,  I  think,  made  it  a  better  poem.  I  think  honestly  it  is 
as  good  (if  not  better  than)  any  other  long  poem  I  have  written. 
But  if  thee  prefer  to  print  a  larger  volume,  including  my  shorter 
poems,  I  will  not  insist.  I  shall  call  it  The  Gefmantown  Pilgrim. 
It  is  now  ready  for  the  press  save  the  addition  of  a  few  notes."51 

In  a  letter  to  Osgood,  June,  1872,  Whittier  says: 

"Fields  thinks  it  would  be  better  to  entitle  it  'Pastorius  of 
Pennsylvania'.  I  am  not  sure  about  it.  He  objects  to  the  word 
'Germantown'.  We  might  call  it  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  a 
rather  pleasant  sounding  alliteration."52  And  so  the  poem  was 
called. 

Whittier  gives  in  the  note  to  the  poem  a  sketch  of  Pastorius' 
life,  also  short  sketches  of  Eleanora  von  Merlau,  Johann  Kelpius, 
Peter  Sluyter  and  others.  His  sources  for  the  poem,  he  tells  us, 
were  Professor  Oswald  Seidensticker's  papers  in  Der  Deutsche 
Pioneer^  and  The  Penn  Monthly.  The  latter,  in  its  Book  Re 
views  for  November,  1872,  mentions  also  as  Whittier's  sources 
the  articles  on  The  German  Mystics  as  American  Colonists?*  by 
Robert  Ellis  Thompson,  which  also  appeared  in  it£  pages. 

These  articles  were  probably  about  all  the  information  that 
Whittier  had  of  the  German  settlers  of  Germantown,  except 
what  he  found  in  the  writings  of  some  of  the  early  Quakers. 
The  teachings  of  Boehme  and  the  doctrines  of  the  earlier  mystics 
he  undoubtedly  knew  better,  as  he  had  already  shown  his  interest 
in  them  in  his  poem  of  Tauler  in  1853. 

The  Book  Review  referred  to  above  says : 

"The  poem  has  all  the  usual  characteristic  marks  of  Whit- 
tier's  works,  except  that  its  form  does  not  bring  into  play  his 


61  S.  T.  Pickard's  Life  of  J.  G.  Whittier,  pages  575-576. 

62  Pickard's  Life  of  J.  G.  Whittier,  note  to  page  576. 

53  The  articles  referred  to  appeared  in  Der  Deutsche  Pioneer  in  March, 
April  and  May,  1872,  and  in  the  Penn  Monthly  in  January  and  February,  1872. 

54  These  articles  appeared  in  August,  September  and  October  numbers  of 
the  Penn  Monthly  for  1871. 


Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          45 

highest  power.  Mr.  Whittier  is,  above  all  things,  a  lyric  poet,  the 
greatest  in  America." 

It  praises  the  poem  from  a  literary  standpoint,  but  criticises 
it  from  the  historical  side  as  showing  Pastor ius'  life  as  smooth 
and  without  hardships,  as  if  it  had  been  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later ;  as  bringing  Spener  and  Eleanore  von  Merlau  as  co- 
workers  with  Pastorius,  when  in  reality  they  were  more  closely 
in  sympathy  with  Kelpius  and  his  followers ;  as  describing  Schum- 
berg  as  a  student  of  the  Vedas  a  century  before  any  European 
scholar  was  aware  of  their  existence,  and  that  the  epithet  familist 
as  applied  to  the  Labidist  Sluyter  was  historically  incorrect.  It 
excuses  him,  however,  by  saying: 

"But  these  slight  blemishes  are  less  culpable  in  the  poet  than 
they  would  be  in  the  historian,  and,  as  Pennsylvanians,  we  take 
the  whole  book55  with  thanks  to  the  author." 

We  expect  a  poet  to  depart  from  history  to  suit  his  muse, 
but  for  some  of  the  inaccuracies  in  the  poem  and  in  the  notes,  re 
garding  Pastorius  and  Germantown,  Whittier  is  not  to  blame,  as 
many  things  have  been  brought  to  light  on  the  subject  of  Pas 
torius  and  the  Germantown  settlers,  by  Professor  Marion  D. 
Learned  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Ex-Governor  Samuel 
W.  Pennypacker  and  others,  since  Professor  Seidensticker  wrote 
his  papers. 

The  Rector  of  the  Latin  School  at  Windsheim,  Germany, 
where  Pastorius56  remained  until  he  was  ready  for  the  Uni 
versity,  was  Tobias  Schumberg,  who  became  Pastorius'  life-long 
friend.  Whittier  calls  him  Schurmberg.  This,  however,  is 
Whittier's  spelling,  as  Seidensticker  spells  the  name  correctly. 

"And  learned  Schurmberg,  fain,  at  times,  to  look 

From  Talmud,  Koran,  Veds,  and  Pentateuch, 
Sought  out  his  pupil  in  his  far-off  nook, 

To  query  with  him  of  climatic  change, 

Of  bird,  beast,  reptile,  in  his  forest  range, 
Of  flowers  and  fruits  and  simples  new  and  strange. 


55  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim  and  Other  Poems,  by  John  Greenleaf  Whit 
tier.  Boston  :  James  Osgood  &  Company.  Philadelphia  :  Porter  &  Coates.   1872. 
66  Francis   Daniel    Pastorius.   the    founder  of   Germantown,   was   born   in 


46          Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

In  his  note,  Whittier  says:  "At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
entered  the  University  of  Altdorf.  He  studied  law  at  Strass- 
burg,  Basle,  and  Jena;  and  at  Ratisbon,  the  seat  of  the  Imperial 
Government,  obtained  a  practical  knowledge  of  international 
polity.  Successful  in  all  his  examinations  and  disputations,  he 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Law  at  Nuremberg  in  1676." 
This  Whittier  has  taken  almost  verbatim  from  Seidensticker. 
Pastorius,57  after  leaving  Jena,  sojourned  for  a  time  in  Regens- 
burg,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  to  study  the  practice  of  the 
Imperial  Code,  as  the  Imperial  diet  was  convened  in  Regensburg 
at  that  time.  In  1676  he  received  his  doctor's  diploma  at  the 
University  of  Altdorf.  This  was  the  university  for  the  city  of 
Niirnberg  but  it  was  situated  at  Altdorf.  Whittier  refers  to  Alt 
dorf 's  "Burschensong"  in  his  poem: 

"He  sang  not;  but  if  sometimes  tempted  strong, 

He  hummed  what  seemed  like  Altdorf 's  Burschen-song, 
His  good  wife  smiled  and  did  not  count  it  wrong. 

For  well  he  loved  his  boyhood's  brother  band ; 
His  memory,  while  he  trod  the  New  World's  strand, 
A  double-ganger  walked  the  Fatherland !" 

The  Burschen-song,  to  which  Whittier  refers,  may  have  been 
suggested  by  the  song  which  Professor  Seidensticker  published  in 
Der  Deutsche  Pioneer  August,  1871,  with  other  poems  of  Pas 
torius  and  which  begins : 

"Darf  man  dich  Corinna  kiissen? 

So  komm  mein  Liebchen  zu  mir  her, 
'Ich  werd  es  wohl  am  besten  wissen,' 

Das  war  die  Ant  wort  ungefahr 
Sie  lieffe  zwar  und  sagte:  Nein! 

Und  gab  sich  doch  gecluldig  drein." 

After  practicing  law  in  Windsheim  for  about  two  years  and 
a  half,  he  went  to  Frankfurt  in  1679,  where  he  was  introduced 

Sommerhausen,  Germany,   September  26,   1651,  and  died  in   1719  or   1720,  at 
Germantown,  Pa. 

87  Learned's  Pastorius,  page  76. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          47 

immediately  into  the  Spener  circle.  Through  Dr.  Spener  he 
became  tutor  to  von  Bodeck  and  journeyed  with  him  1680-1682 
through  Holland,  England,  France,  Switzerland  and  a  part  of 
upper  Germany.  Seidensticker  calls  him  von  Rodeck58  and 
Whittier  has  of  course  the  same  spelling  in  his  poem.  He  speaks 
of  the  Indian  chiefs  as: 

"Like  bronzes  in  his  friend  von  Rodeck's  hall." 

In  1677,  William  Penn,  in  company  with  George  Fox,  Robert 
Barclay,  and  several  other  Friends,  went  to  Holland  and  Germany 
and  coming  along  the  Rhine,  stopped  at  Frankfurt.  This  visit 
of  Penn  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  Pietistic  circle  in 
Frankfurt.59  Eleanora  von  Merlau,  a  member  of  this  circle,  was 
especially  enthusiastic  over  the  meetings  held  by  the  Friends. 

Whittier's  reference  to  von  Merlau  in  the  poem  is : 

"As  once  he  heard  in  sweet  von  Merlau's  bowers 

Fair  as  herself,  in  boyhood's  happy  hours, 
The  pious  Spener  read  his  creed  in  flowers." 

And  again: 

"Or,  now  and  then,  the  missive  of  some  friend 
In  gray  Altorf  or  storied  Niirnberg  penned, 
Dropped  in  upon  him  like  a  guest  to  spend 

"The  night  beneath  his  roof-tree.    Mystical 

The  fair  von  Merlau  spake  as  waters  fall 
And  voices  sound  in  dreams,  and  yet  withal 

"Human  and  sweet,  as  if  each  far,  low  tone, 

Over  the  roses  of  her  garden  blown, 
Brought  the  warm  sense  of  beauty  all  her  own." 


58  "The  mistake  is  due  evidently  to  the  rather  indistinct  passage  in  the 
Beehive,  where  the  initial  'R'  is  written  so  close  to  the  line  that  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  whether  the  initial  letter  in  this  case  is  'R'  or  'B'.  The  other 
occurrences  of  the  name  in  the  Beehive,  and  particularly  in  the  Res  Propiae, 
however,  clearly  show  the  form  to  be  'Bodeck'.  .  .  .  Furthermore,  it  has 
been  impossible  to  find  the  name  'Rodeck'  in  most  of  the  genealogical  or 
heraldic  sources,  while  the  name  'Bodeck'  is  much  in  evidence."  Learned's 
Pastorius,  page  91. 

69  Learned's  Pastorius,  page  106. 


48          Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

In  1 68 1,  Penn  was  made  proprietor  of  the  province  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  invited  his  German  friends  in  Holland60  and  along 
the  Rhine  to  settle  there,  opening  the  way  for  a  place  to  worship 
in  peace  in  a  new  world.  Pastorius  fell  in  with  the  scheme,  as 
the  frivolous  life  of  the  old  world  that  he  had  just  experienced 
had  failed  to  satisfy  him.  The  result  was  that  he  wras  made 
agent  with  power  of  attorney  to  purchase  land  for  the  company 
in  Pennsylvania;  and  in  London61  between  May  8  and  June  6, 
1683,  bought  fifteen  thousand  acres  of  land  for  the  Frankfurt 
Company  and  sailed  for  America  June  6,  1683,  landing  in  Phil 
adelphia62  August  20. 

Penn  issued  a  warrant  to  Pastorius  for  six  thousand  acres 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Schuylkill  and  this  the  latter  divided 
equally  between  the  German  and  Crefeld63  settlers.  The  Cre- 
f elders,  coming  from  near  the  borders  of  Holland,  had  low 
German  names.  Whittier  refers  to  them  in  the  poem: 

"Or,  talking  of  old  home  scenes,  Op  der  Graaf 
Teased  the  low  back-log  with  his  shodden  staff, 
Till  the  red  embers  broke  into  a  laugh." 

New  settlers  of  the  various  German  sects  along  the  Rhine 
arrived  and  the  colony  grew.  There  were  amongst  their  num 
bers  Quakers,  Mennonites  and  Bunkers.  Whittier  mentions  all 
these  different  sects  in  his  poem.  The  Frankfurt  Company,  how 
ever,  did  not  keep  its  promise  of  following  its  agent  to  the 
New  World  and  Pastorius  finally  grew  tired  of  the  financial 
obligations  he  had  assumed  and  sent  in  his  resignation.  In  his 
place  the  company  appointed  Daniel  Falkner,  Johannes  Jawert 
and  Johannes  Kelpius.64  The  latter  was  a  dreamer  and  entirely 


60  In  1833  Whittier  wrote  a  story  of  this  visit  of  Penn  to  Germany  and 
Holland  called  The  Proselytes,  which  may  be  found  in  his  Prose  Works,  Vol. 
I,  page  305,  Riv.  Ed. 

61  Learned's  Pastorius,  page  no. 
"Learned's  Pastorius,  page  117. 

83  The  Crefelders  who  arrived  on  the  6th  of  October  were  mostly  Men 
nonites  from  Crefeld  and  did  not  belong  to  the  Frankfurt  Company. 

64  The  cave  in  which  Kelpius  lived  on  the  Wissahickon  is  still  pointed  out 
by  the  people  of  Germantown.  Being  slight  and  delicate,  he  could  not  endure 
the  rigors  of  such  a  life  and  died  of  consumption  in  1708. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          49 

unfit  for  such  a  position  and  did  not  wish  to  serve.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  characters  of  the  early  settlers  of  German- 
town  and  was  known  as  "The  Hermit  of  the  Wissahickon".  The 
little  band  of  mystics  to  which  he  belonged  arrived  in  Phila 
delphia  in  1694  and  were  given  a  plot  of  ground  on  the  ridge  of 
the  Wissahickon.  They  called  themselves  The  Contented  of 
the  God-loving  Soul?'*  but  since  they  maintained  that  the  sixth 
verse  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Revelations  indicated,  when 
properly  interpreted,  the  near  approach  of  the  coming  of  Christ, 
the  name  given  to  them,  by  those  who  surrounded  them,  was  The 
Society  of  the  Woman  in  the  Wilderness.  They  believed  that 
the  state  of  celibacy  was  far  holier  than  marriage,  did  not  believe 
in  infant-baptism  and  were  always  wailing  and  looking  for  the 
millenium. 

Whittier  says  of  him  : 

"Or  painful  Kelpius  from  his  hermit  den 

By  Wissahickon,  maddest  of  good  men, 
Dreamed  o'er  the  Chiliast66  dreams  of  Petersen. 

"Deep  in  the  woods,  where  the  small  river  slid 

Snake-like  in  shade,  the  Helmstadt  mystic  hid, 
Weird  as  a  wizard,  over  arts  forbid, 

"Reading  the  books  of  Daniel  and  of  John, 

And  Behmen's  Morning-Redness,  through  the  Stone 
Of  Wisdom,  vouchsafed  to  his  eyes  alone, 

"Whereby  he  read  what  man  ne'er  read  before, 

And  saw  the  visions  man  shall  see  no  more, 
Till  the  great  angel,  striding  sea  and  shore, 

"Shall  bid  all  flesh  await,  on  land  or  ships, 
The  warning  trump  of  the  Apocalypse, 
Shattering  the  heavens  before  the  dread  eclipse." 

Pastorius,  with  his  learning  and  experience,  was  well  fitted 
to  be  the  leading  man  in  the  affairs  of  the  community ;  and  from 
the  records  we  see  that  he  was  so  regarded. 


65  Pennypacker's  Germantown,  page  217. 

88  Chiliast  is  a  term  applied  to  those  who  believe  in  the  millenium. 


50          Whittler's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

As  he  does  not  mention  his  joining  the  Society  of  Friends, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  record  of  the  fact,  the  question 
has  been  raised  as  to  whether  he  really  did  join  them.  Whittier 
certainly  considered  him  a  member  of  the  society  and  it  seems  to 
me  he  was  right  in  his  assumption,  as  the  records  were  not 
always  strictly  kept  in  the  early  days.  He  would  certainly  not 
have  been  appointed  a  delegate  from  the  Abington  Monthly  Meet 
ing  to  attend  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  as  he  was  in  1703  and  in 
1715,  unless  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  society;  nor  would  his 
children's  births  be  recorded  in  the  records  of  the  Abington 
Monthly  Meeting  if  this  had  not  been  the  case,  as  none  but  mem 
bers  of  the  meeting  are  appointed  delegates  or  have  births 
recorded  in  meeting  records.  From  his  interest  in  the  doctrines 
of  Boehme  and  Spener,  it  was  not  a  very  great  change  to  that  of 
the  Friends,  as  the  two  have  many  things  in  common.  Especially 
close  were  the  resemblance  between  the  beliefs  of  the  Friends 
and  many  of  the  teachings  of  Boehme.  They  both  believed  in 
following  the  guidance  of  the  Inner  Light,  in  simplicity  of  life, 
and  in  inspiration.  Many  of  the  early  Quakers  had  read  transla 
tions  of  Boehme's  Morgenrothe  and  were  influenced  by  it.  Beh- 
men  is  the  name  by  which  he  is  known  to  many  of  the  English 
readers  and  Whittier  uses  this  form  of  the  name. 

Of  Pastorius'  faith  Whittier  says: 

"I  sing  the  blue-eyed  German  Spener  taught, 

Through  whose  veiled,  mystic  faith  the  Inward  light, 
Steady  and  still,  an  easy  brightness,  shone, 
Transfiguring  all  things  in  its  radiance  white. 


"For,  by  the  lore  of  Gorlitz'  gentle  sage, 

With  the  mild  mystics  of  his  dreamy  age 
He  read  the  herbal  signs  of  nature's  page, 


"Yet  not  less,  when  once  the  vision  passed, 

He  held  the  plain  and  sober  maxims  fast 
Of  the  dear  Friends  with  whom  his  lot  was  cast. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          51 

"And  evermore,  beneath  this  outward  sense, 

And  through  the  common  sequence  of  events, 

He  felt  the  guiding  hand  of  Providence 

i 

"Reach  out.  of  space.    A  Voice  spake  in  his  ear, 

And  lo !  all  other  voices  far  and  near 
Died  at  that  whisper,  full  of  meanings  clear. 

"The  Light  of  Life  shone  round  him ;  one  by  one 

The  wandering  lights,  that  all-misleading  run, 
Went  out  like  candles  paling  in  the  sun. 

"That  Light  he  followed,  step  by  step,  wher'er 

It  led,  as  in  the  vision  of  the  seer 
The  wheels  moved  as  the  spirit  in  the  clear 

"And  terrible  crystal  moved,  with  all  their  eyes 

Watching  the  living  splendor  sink  or  rise 
Its  will  their  will,  knowing  no  otherwise. 

"Within  himself  he  found  the  law  of  right, 

He  walked  by  faith  and  not  the  letter's  sight, 
And  read  his  Bible  by  the  Inward  Light." 

In  1688,  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  Friends  of  German- 
town  drew  up  a  protest  against  slavery67  and  sent  it  to  the 
Monthly  Meeting.  The  protest  is  in  Pastorius'  handwriting, 
though  he  may  not  have  formulated  all  the  wording  of  it. 

Whittier  tells  in  the  beginning  of  the  poem,  through  Pas 
torius'  conversation  with  his  wife,  of  the  reception  in  the  meeting 
of  this  protest,  and  of  Pastorius'  discouragement  at  the  result : 

"Again  she  looked  :  between  green  walls  of  shade, 

With  low-bent  head  as  if  with  sorrow  weighed, 
Daniel  Pastorius  slowly  came  and  said, 

"  'God's  peace  be  with  thee,  Anna!'68  Then  he  stood 

Silent  before  her,  wrestling  with  the  mood 
Of  one  who  sees  the  evil  and  not  good 

"  'What  is  it,  my  Pastorius?'  As  she  spoke, 

A  slow,  faint  smile  across  his  features  broke, 
Sadder  than  trees.  'Dear  heart,'  he  said,  'our  folk 


Pennypacker's  Gennantown,  page  145. 

The  name  of  Pastorius's  wife  was  Ennecke. 


52  Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"  'Are  even  as  others.   Yea,  our  goodliest  Friends 

Are  frail,  our  elders  have  their  selfish  ends, 
And  few  dare  trust  the  Lord  to  make  amends' 

"For  duty's  loss.   So  even  our  feeble  word 

For  the  dumb  slaves  the  startled  meeting  heard 
As  if  a  stone  its  quiet  waters  stirred; 

"And,  as  the  clerks  ceased  reading,  there  began 

A  ripple  of  dissent  which  downward  ran 
In  widening  circles,  as  from  man  to  man. 

"Somewhat  was  said  of  running  before  sent, 

Of  tender  fear  that  some  their  guide  outwent, 
Troublers  of  Israel.  I  was  scarce  intent 

"On  hearing,  for  behind  the  reverend  row 

Of  gallery  Friends,  in  dumb  and  piteous  show 
I  saw,  methought,  dark  faces  full  of  woe 

"And  in  the  spirit  I  was  taken  where 

They  toiled  and  suffered,  I  was  made  aware 
Of  shame  and  wrath  and  anguish  and  despair ! 

"And  while  the  meeting  smothered  our  poor  plea 

With  cautious  phrase,  A  Voice  there  seemed  to  be, 
'As  ye  have  done  to  these  ye  do  to  me !' 

"So  it  all  passed,  and  the  old  tithe  went  on 

Of  anise,  mint,  and  cumin,  till  the  sun 
Set,  leaving  still  the  weightier  work  undone. 

"Help,  for  the  good  man  faileth !  Who  is  strong, 

If  these  be  weak?  Who  shall  rebuke  the  wrong, 
If  these  consent?  How  long,  O  Lord !  how  long! 

"He  ceased,  and,  bound  in  spirit  with  the  bound, 

With  folded  arms,  and  eyes  that  sought  the  ground, 
Walked  musingly  his  little  garden  round." 

Whittier  speaks  also  of  this  protest  in  John  IVoohnan's 
Journal.™ 

Pastorius,  in  his  busy  life  of  lawyer,  town  clerk,  and  school 
master,70  found  time  to  write  many  valuable  books  and  tracts. 


69  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Ed.,  Vol.  Ill,  page  321. 

T°  Pastorius  taught  in  the  Friends'  School  in  Philadelphia.  1698-1700.     In 
1702,  a  school  was  opened  in  Germantown  and  was  also  taught  by  him. 


Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          53 

Of  Pastorius'  printed  books,  the  most  interesting  are  perhaps 
his  Primmer  and  his  Description  of  Pennsylvania.  Some  of  his 
most  important  works  have  never  been  published ;  amongst  these, 
the  Beehive,  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  extensive  works  of 
the  Colonial  period,  is  an  encyclopedia  of  knowledge,  composed 
for  the  use  of  his  children.  The  title  was  written  in  seven  lan 
guages. 

The  references  to  Pastorius'  literary  labors  are  as  follows : 

"And  when  the  bitter  north  wind,  keen  and  swift 

Swept  the  white  street  and  piled  the  door-yard  drift, 
He  exercised,  as  Friends  might  say,  his  gift 

"Of  verse,  Dutch,  English,  Latin,  like  the  hash 

Of  corn  and  beans  in  Indian  succotash; 
Dull,  doubtless,  but  with  here  and  there  a  flash 

"Of  wit  and  fine  conceit, — the  good  man's  play 

Of  quiet  fancies,  meet  to  while  away 
The  slow  hours  measuring  off  an  idle  day. 

"At  evening,  while  his  wife  put  on  her  look 

Of  love's  endurance,  from  its  niche  he  took 
The  written  pages  of  his  ponderous  book. 

"And  read,  in  half  the  languages  of  man, 

His  'Rusca  Apium'  which  with  bees  began, 
And  through  the  gamut  of  creation  ran." 

The  Grund  und  Lager  Buch  is  most  interesting  perhaps  to 
us,  since  Pastorius'  Latin  address  to  posterity  has  been  immortal 
ized  by  Whittier,  by  his  translation71  of  it  in  The  Pennsylvania 
Pilgrim. 

He  introduces  his  poem  with  this  translation : 

"Hail  to  posterity ! 
Hail,  future  men  of  Germanopolis ! 
Let  the  young  generations  yet  to  be 
Look  kindly  upon  this. 


71  The  Latin  address  from  which  Whittier  made  his  translation  may  be 
found  in  Professor  Seidensticker's  article  in  the  Penn  Monthly  for  January, 
1872. 


54          Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Think  how  your  fathers  left  their  native  land, — 

Dear  German-land !   O  sacred  hearths  and  homes ! — 
And,  where  the  wild  beast  roams, 

In  patience  planned 
New  forest-homes  beyond  the  mighty  sea, 

There  undisturbed  and  free 
To  live  as  brothers  of  one  family. 

What  pains  and  cares  befell, 
What  trials  and  what  fears, 
Remember,  and  wherein  we  have  done  well 

Follow  our  footsteps,  men  of  coming  years! 

Where  we  have  failed  to  do 

Aright,  or  wisely  live, 
Be  warned  by  us,  the  better  way  pursue, 
And,  knowing  we  were  human,  even  as  you, 
Pity  us  and  forgive! 

Farewell,  Posterity! 

Farewell,  dear  Germany! 

Forevermore  farewell !" 

In  a  letter  to  the  President  of  Haverford  College  at  the 
time  of  its  Semi-Centennial  in  1884,  Whittier  shows  his  appre 
ciation  of  the  founders  of  "the  State  of  Pennsylvania — Penn, 
Lloyd,  Pastorius,  Logan,  and  Story;  men  who  were  masters  of 
the  scientific  knowledge  and  culture  of  their  age,  hospitable  to  all 
truth,  and  open  to  all  light,  and  who  in  some  instances  anticipated 
the  result  of  modern  research  and  critical  inquiry."72 

Among  the  letters  in  Whittier's  home  in  Amesbury,  Mass., 
is  an  unpublished  letter  from  George  Bunsen73  to  his  aunt,  Mrs. 
Gurney,  mentioning  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  from  which  I 
quote  the  following  extract : 

"i2th  August,  1873. 

"A  delay  of  several  months  has  occurred  before  I  obtained 
possession  of  your  beautiful  present  of  a  late  volume  by  Mr.  John 
G.  Whittier.  When  my  sister,  Jane  Gurney,  wrote  from  our  house 
at  Berlin,  mentioning  the  interest  we  had  all  felt  in  extracts  from 
The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  and  in  fact  of  a  German  having  been 

72  Whittier,  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Ed.,  Vol.  Ill,  page  362. 

"  George  Bunsen  was  the  son  of  Baron  Christian  Bunsen,  who  from  1841 
to  1854  was  German  Ambassador  to  England.  An  older  son  of  Baron  Bunsen 
married  an  Englishwoman,  Elizabeth  Gurney,  niece  of  Elizabeth  Fry. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          55 

among  the  very  first  to  boldly  demand  the  liberation  of  negro 
slaves,  we  none  of  us  supposed  that  poem  to  have  come  out  in  so 
splendid  a  garb  as  that  in  which  I  now  see  it  lying  before  me." 

In  the  chapter  on  Bayard  Taylor,  the  correspondence  be 
tween  the  two  poets  about  the  "Pennsylvania  Pilgrim"  and  "Lars" 
has  already  been  discussed. 

HYMN  OF  THE  BUNKERS. 

Whittier's  Hymn  of  the  Dunkers  appeared  in  The  Atlantic 
Monthly  for  May,  1877. 
The  hymn  begins  : 

Kloster  Kedar,  Ephrata,  Pa.,  1738. 

Sister  Maria  Christina  sings : 

"Wake,  sisters,  wake !  the  day  star  shines ; 

Above  Ephrata's  eastern  pines 
The  dawn  is  breaking,  cool  and  calm. 

Wake,  sisters,  wake!  to  prayer  and  psalm! 

"Praised  be  the  Lord  for  shade  and  light, 

For  toil  by  day,  for  rest  by  night ! 
Praised  be  His  name  who  deigns  to  bless 
Our  Kedar  of  the  Wilderness!" 

A  few  words  as  to  the  Bunkers  and  their  peculiar  music  will 
help  understand  Whittier's  hymn. 

The  Bunker  Church  had  its  origin  at  Schwarzenau,  Ger 
many,  in  1708,  and  was  the  outcome  of  the  pietistic  movements  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  One  branch  of  these  people  in  1715 
fled  to  Crefeld,  Prussia,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Peter  Becker 
came  to  Germantown  in  1719,  the  first  company  of  Bunkers  to 
come  to  America. 

The  name  Bunker  (Tunker)  comes  from  the  verb  tunken, 
modern  German  taufen,  to  dip,  baptize — from  their  belief  in 
"trine"  immersion  (triple  immersion). 

Other  doctrines74  peculiar  to  this  sect  are :  Feet-washing,  as 
taught  in  John  xiii ;  The  Love  Feast,  or  Lord's  Supper ;  The  Holy 
Kiss,  or  Salutation ;  Plain  Bress ;  and  the  doctrine  of  Peace. 


74  See  History  of  the  German  Baptist  Brethren,  by  Dr.  M.  G.  Brumbaugh, 
1890,  page  555- 


56          W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

In  1723,  Peter  Becker  organized  the  scattered  members  of 
the  Society  about  Germantown  into  a  united  body. 

An  early  secession  from  the  General  body  of  Bunkers  was 
that  of  the  Seventh-Day  Dunkers,  whose  distinctive  principle  was 
that  the  Seventh-Day  was  the  true  Sabbath.  Their  founder  was 
Conrad  Beissel  (1690-1768),  a  baker  from  Eberbach,  Germany. 
He  came  to  Germantown  in  1720  and  after  serving  apprentice 
ship  as  a  weaver  with  Becker,  he  went  to  live  as  a  hermit  in  the 
wilderness  of  Conestoga  County,  Pennsylvania,  near  the  Cocalico. 
In  his  beliefs  he  was  much  more  mystical  than  his  friends  in 
Germantown.  He  also  laid  great  stress  on  the  holiness  of 
celibacy.  The  sect  of  which  he  was  leader  was  founded  in  1725 
and  in  1735  established  into  a  semi-monastic  community  of  the 
"Order  of  Solitary"  at  Ephrata  in  Lancaster  County.  There  was 
a  house  for  the  brothers  and  one  for  the  sisters.  There  were 
also  some  married  couples  among  the  congregation,  but  they 
were  looked  upon  as  much  less  holy  than  the  others.  Beissel,  as 
the  Vorsteher  or  overseer  of  the  community,  was  given  the  name 
of  father  "Friedsam  Gottrecht".  He  ruled  the  community  with 
an  iron  hand  and  at  his  death  the  society  began  to  decline. 

A  monastic  dress  was  adopted  by  the  brethren  and  sisters 
resembling  that  of  the  Capuchins. 

•'"  At  one  time  the  Society  included  about  three  hundred  mem 
bers.  The  brothers  engaged  in  printing,  book-binding,  tanning 
and  quarrying.  There  was  also  a  saw-mill  and  a  pottery.  The 
sisters  did  embroidery,  quilting  and  engrossing  in  a  beautiful 
hand. 

An  interesting  account  of  the  peculiar  music  and  singing 
schools  at  Ephrata  may  be  found  in  the  Chronicon  Ephratense, 
History  of  the  Community  of  Seventh-Day  Baptists,  by  Lamech 
and  Agrippa.  Translated  by  Max  Hark,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  1889, 
Chapter  XXIV. 

Many  of  these  hymns  were  religious  love  lyrics  expressing 
the  glowing  longing  of  the  soul  for  the  heavenly  bridegroom. 

The  earliest  hymn  and  music  books  of  the  Ephrata  com 
munity75  were  all  laboriously  and  carefully  executed  with  the 
75  Sachse,  Music  of  the  Ephrata  Cloister,  page  33. 


Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          57 

pen.  These  were  supplanted  by  the  hymn-books  printed  for  their 
use  by  Franklin  in  1730,  1732,  and  1736,  and  Sauer  in  1739.  The 
latter  book  was  known  as  the  Weyrauchs  Hilgel.  Shortly  after 
the  large  printing  press  was  established  in  the  institution  on  the 
Cocalico,  it  was  proposed  to  issue  a  distinctive  original  hymn- 
book  for  the  uses  of  both  the  solitary  and  secular  organizations ; 
all  of  the  compositions  being  the  work  of  the  inmates  of  the 
Kloster  and  set  to  tunes  of  their  own.  This  resulted  in  the  issue 
in  1747  of  the  Turtel-Taube,  containing  some  two  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  hymns.  About  two-thirds  of  the  hymns  were  con 
tributed  by  Conrad  Beissel75a.  This  was  the  first  original  hymn- 
book  printed  at  Ephrata. 

Amongst  the  unpublished  letters  to  Whittier  in  the  posses 
sion  of  Mr.  Pickard  at  Amesbury,  Mass.,  is  one  from  a  Penn 
sylvania  German,  of  Quincy,  Franklin  County,  Obed  Snow- 
berger  by  name,  making  inquiries  of  Whittier  as  to  the  sources 
of  his  hymn.  The  letter  is  dated  Quincy,  Franklin  County,  Penn 
sylvania,  December  31,  1888: 

"I  saw  that  hymn  of  the  Bunkers  in  the  papers.  I  wondered 
very  much  how  you  came  into  possession  of  it.  I  have  the  Ephrata 
books.  The  hymn  is  Ephrata  tone.76  There  was  a  Quaker  lady 
among  the  sisters  at  Ephrata,  but  the  name  is  not  given.  I  have 
had  to  wonder  a  good  deal  how  you  succeeded  to  render  an 
Ephrata  hymn  so  very  correctly  in  English  language.  I  have 
been  written  to  about  it  and  could  not  tell  anything  definite.  I 
should  be  very  glad  to  have  a  short  historical  sketch  of  the  hymn. 
The  hymn  I  send  I  translated  myself.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other 
two  hymns  of  similar  length  being  translated  into  the  English 
language.  Should  the  hymn  I  send  be  worth  printing  in  any 
periodical,  I  would  not  want  anything  more  than  a  copy  of  the 
paper. 


75a  Beissel's  most  important  hymn  book  was  the  Paradiesisches  IVundcr- 
sfiel,  1754.  Another  edition,  1766.  There  were  two  later  editions  of  the 
Turtel-Taube,  1755  and  1762.  In  1756,  Rosen  und  Lilen  Aus  der  Schwester 
lichen  Gesellschaft  in  Saron  und  aus  der  Briiderlichen  Gesellschaft  in  Be- 
thania.  The  last  hymn  book  printed  by  the  Ephrata  Community  was  Ausbund 
Geistreichcr  Lieder,  1785. 

™  The  writing  here  was  indistinct  and  I  am  not  sure  this  was  the  word. 


58          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"If  desired  by  the  publisher,  I  might  distribute  a  number  of 
copies.    So  far  as  the  Institute  is  concerned  we  are  out  of  danger. 
I  think  the  papers  we  have  had  printed  will  end  the  law-suit. 
"Yours  Respect., 

"OBED  SNOWBERGER." 

I  have  not  been  able  to  get  hold  of  Whittier's  reply  to  this 
letter,  as  the  family  of  Obed  Snowberger  seem  to  know  noth 
ing  about  his  writing  to  Whittier.  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Julius  F. 
Sachse,  of  Philadelphia,  claims  to  have  most  of  the  manuscripts 
of  Obed  Snowberger,  the  letter,  if  it  still  exists,  is  probably  in  his 
possession,  and  since  I  was  unable  to  get  access  to  these  manu 
scripts,  the  matter  still  remains  unsettled. 

According  to  Sachse's  Appendix  to  the  German  Sectarians  of 
1^42,  Obed  Snowberger  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
Ephrata  music.  He  was  born  in  1823  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Snow  Hill  community  of  Bunkers  established  at  Franklin  County, 
Pennsylvania. 

Among  the  books  in  Whittier's  library  was  the  work  of 
Phebe  Earle  Gibbons,  Pennsylvania  Dutch  and  Other  Essays,  edi 
tion  of  1872,  and  as  Whittier's  poem  was  written  in  1877,  he  very 
likely  took  the  name  of  the  sister  from  this  book  for  his  hymn. 

She  tells  that,  "while  Beissel  was  dwelling  in  his  solitary 
cot  about  the  year  1730,  two  married  women  joined  the  Society, 
who  according  to  The  Ephrata  Chronicle,  left  their  husbands  and 
placed  themselves  under  the  head  of  the  director  (or  Vorsteher, 
the  title  applied  to  Beissel  in  the  Chronicle).  One  of  these  was 
Maria  Christina,  wife  of  Christopher  Sauer,  who  afterwards 
established  the  celebrated  German  printing  office  at  German- 
town."77 

In  the  Ephrata  Register  in  Sachse's78  German  Sectarians, 
this  sister  seems  to  be  the  only  one  of  that  name  in  the  list,  though 
there  were  several  Marias  and  one  Christianne. 

In  spite  of  Obed  Snowberger's  letter,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  Whittier's  hymn  is  not  an  exact  translation  of  any  one  of 

77  Page  141. 

78  Sachse's  German  Sectarians  of  Pennsylvania,  1742-1800.     Philadelphia, 
1900,  pages  485-517- 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          59 

the  hymns  in  the  Ephrata  books;  this  is  also  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
James  Warrington,  who  is  an  authority  on  the  Ephrata  music. 
Though  neither  Mr.  Warrington  nor  myself  could  find  any  one 
hymn  that  we  could  say  was  used  as  the  model  for  Whittier's, 
yet  a  number  contained  some  of  the  thoughts  expressed  in  his 
poem.  Whittier  has  not  called  it  a  translation.  This  is  another 
reason  for  thinking  it  is  not  meant  to  be  a  translation  but  an 
attempt  to  give  voice  to  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  sect  about 
whom  he  was  writing. 

The  Penn  Monthly,  in  a  review  of  Whittier's  Vision  of 
Echard,79  does  not  think  that  he  does  voice  these  sentiments.  The 
review  says :  "Just  as  untrue  to  history  is  the  picture  of  the 
thoughts  and  aspirations  of  the  Ephrata  Cloister  in  the  Bunker's 
Hymn.  The  whole  weft  and  woof  of  the  poem  is  Quakerly.  A 
Bunker  mystic  would  not  have  singled  out  Rome  and  Geneva 
as  the  embodiment  of  the  ecclesiasticism  against  which  they  pro 
tested.  And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  would  have  been  too 
truthful  to  allude  to  prison  and  the  stake  as  among  the  experi 
ences  of  the  sect  founded  by  Alexander  Mack.  Their  adventism 
is  the  only  point  on  which  Mr.  Whittier  catches  the  character  of 
the  sect;  but  that  was  of  a  mystical,  theosophical  type,  widely 
different  from  his  picture  of  it." 

Letter  on  Pennsylvania  German  Sects. 

The  following  unpublished  letter80  of  Sarah  Orne  Jewett  to 
Whittier,  though  written  after  the  poet  published  his  Pennsyl 
vania  German  poems,  is  an  interesting  letter  and  worthy  of  being 
quoted : 

"Bethlehem,  Pa.,  22nd  April,  1884. 

"I  wish  you  were  here  with  us,  we  have  spoken  of  you  so 
many  times — for  though  we  were  disappointed  at  first  in  finding 
such  a  bustling  town  where  we  expected  a  rural  neighborhood— 
we  are  more  and  more  delighted  with  what  we  find  of  the  old 
Moravian  settlement.  One  can  easily  pick  it  out  from  the  newer 
town,  and  the  church  and  community  houses  are  very  interesting, 


79  Vol.  10,  page  236. 

80  Original  letter  in  possession  of  S.  T.  Pickard. 


60          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

but  most  of  all  the  old  burying  ground.  On  one  little  stone  we  saw 
an  epitaph  beside  the  record — a  very  uncommon  thing — and  found 
that  after  the  child's  name  it  said :  'How  did  the  Saviour  look  ? 
"Right  clean"  was  his  reply.'  It  was  an  old  stone  and  this  touched 
us  very  much.  It  could  only  be  a  most  simple  and  devout  people 
who  had  cherished  the  vision,  and  kept  the  simple  words — 
Doesn't  it  make  you  think  much  of  William  Blake?  We  have 
been  this  afternoon  to  the  sisters'  house  and  saw  some  old  em 
broideries  of  the  nuns  manufacture  and  bought  some  candy  of 
the  quaint  little  creature  whose  sister  made  it.  They  have  an 
atom  of  a  shop  in  one  end  of  their  prim  and  threadbare  best  room. 
The  window  was  full  of  plants  and  the  hinges  of  the  doors  were 
fine  old  iron  work  and  Sister  Rose's  world  was  so  small  that  you 
could  have  walked  around  it  in  an  afternoon,  if  one  side  of  it 
wasn't  bounded  by  heaven.  There  are  beautiful  high  hills  covered 
with  walnut  and  maple  trees,  but  only  the  willows  are  very  green 
yet." 

Whittier  makes  another  reference  to  the  German  sects  in 
Pennsylvania  in  the  introduction  which  he  wrote  to  Stanley 
Pumphrey's  lecture  on  Indian  Civilization:*1  "The  salutary  influ 
ence  of  the  Moravians  and  Friends  in  Pennsylvania  was  greatly 
weakened  by  the  dreadful  massacre  of  the  unarmed  and  blame 
less  converts  of  Gnadenhutten."82 

MAUD  MULLER  (1854). 

This  ballad,  composed  about  a  German-American  farmer's 
daughter,  was  first  published  in  The  National  Era  of  December 
28,  1854.  "To  a  correspondent  who  asked  of  him  the  pronuncia 
tion  of  'Muller',  Whittier  replied :  .  .  .  'Pronounce  the  name 
with  either  the  Yankee  or  the  German  accent — it  matters  not 
which.'  (He  always  pronounced  the  V  as  in  gull.)"83 


81  Indian  Civilization,  a  lecture  by  Stanley  Pumphrey,  of  England,  with 
Introduction  by  J.  G.  Whittier,  1877. 

"Prose  Works  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  Ill, 
page  233. 

83  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters,  page  368. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          61 

F.  H.  Underwood84  says  that  the  region  about  Longwood, 
Pa.,  is  probably  the  scene  in  which  Maud  Muller  was  located,  but 
Whittier's  head-note  to  the  poem  explains  its  origin  otherwise : 

"The  recollection  of  some  descendants  of  a  Hessian  deserter 
in  the  revolutionary  war  bearing  the  name  of  Muller  doubtless 
suggested  the  somewhat  infelicitous  title  of  a  New  England  idyl. 
The  poem  had  no  real  foundation  in  fact,  though  a  hint  of  it 
may  have  been  found  in  recalling  an  incident,  trivial  in  itself,  of 
a  journey  on  the  picturesque  Maine  seaboard  with  my  sister 
some  years  before  it  was  written.  We  had  stopped  to  rest  our 
tired  horse  under  the  shade  of  an  apple  tree,  and  refresh  him 
with  water  from  a  little  brook  which  rippled  through  the  stone 
wall  across  the  road.  A  very  beautiful  young  girl  in  scantest 
summer  attire  was  at  work  in  the  hay-field,  and  as  we  talked  with 
her  we  noticed  that  she  strove  to  hide  her  bare  feet  by  raking 
hay  over  them,  blushing  as  she  did  so,  through  the  tan  of  her 
cheek  and  neck."85 

Maud  Muller  is  one  of  Whittier's  most  beautiful  poems 
and  in  fact  one  of  the  best  in  American  poetry — the  simple 
picture  of  the  German  farm  girl,  in 

".     .     .     Her  briar-torn  gown, 
And  her  graceful  ankles  bare  and  brown", 

raking  the  sweet-scented  hay,  appeals  to  the  hearts  of  all. 

Eduard  Engel  says  of  this  poem :  "Whittier's  Gabe  der 
romanzenartigen  Erzahlung  zeigt  sich  am  schonsten  in  dem  in 
Amerika  ungemein  beliebten  Gedicht,  'Maud  Muller'.  Es  erin- 
nert  gar  nicht  unvorteilhaft  an  gewisse  gedichte  Uhlands."86 

It  has  been  translated  four86a  times  into  German:  by  Adolf 


84  John  G.  Whittier,  by  Francis  H.  Underwood.  Boston,  1884.  Footnote  to 
page  305. 

80  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poems,  page  47. 

88  Geschichte  der  Litteratur  Nordamerikas,  von  Eduard  Engel,  Leipzig, 
John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  S.  20-24. 

Ma  Dr.  Alfred  I.  Roehm  in  his  dissertation,  Bibliographie  und  Kritik  der 
deutschen  Uebertragungen  aus  der  amerikanischen  Dichtung,  Leipzig,  1910, 
makes  the  statement  that  there  are  five  translations.  I  have  failed  to  find 
the  fifth,  and  Dr.  Roehm  does  not  now  remember  who  the  translator  is,  if  it 
exists.  Owing  to  the  European  war,  I  have  not  had  access  to  anthologies 
which  might  have  been  available  at  other  times ;  but  I  have  had  access  to  all 
those  mentioned  by  Dr.  Roehm  as  containing  translations  of  Whittier. 


62          Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Strodtmann,87  under  the  title  Maud  Midler;  by  J.  Noroth,88  en 
titled  Schon  Katchen;  by  V.  Beaulieu  Marconnay,89  with  the  title 
Ann  Muller;  and  by  E.  O.  Hopp,89a  Maud  Midler. 

Of  these  translations,  the  best  is  the  one  by  Noroth.  Whit- 
tier  is  at  his  best  as  a  ballad  writer  in  this  poem,  in  his  simplicity 
and  fervidness,  and  the  translator  has  lost  little  of  the  beauty  of 
the  original  in  translation.  The  last  few  verses  well  illustrate 
this: 

"Du  armes  Madchen,  von  Elend  geplagt, 
Du  armer  Reicher,  von  Reue  benagt ! 

"Hilf  uns  Allen,  O  Gott,  denn  wir  rufen  das  Gliick 
Der  Jugendtraiime  vergebens  zuriick. 

"Und  das  traurigste  Wort,  das  ein  Ohr  je  vernahm, 
1st  wohl  dieses :   'Ach,  dasz  es  anders  kam!' 

"Wie  manche  siisse  Hoffnung  liegt 
Begraben  tief  vor  der  Menschen  Gesicht ! 

"Doch  mogen  im  Jenseits  die  Engelein 
Weg  walzen  vom  stillen  Grab  den  Stein!" 

The  translation  by  E.  O.  Hopp  is  also  very  good : 

"Maud  Muller  an  einem  Sommertag 
Reihte  das  Heu  am  griinen  Hag. 

"Unter  dem  armlichen  Hut,  wie  gliiht 
Ihr  Antlitz,  das  froh  im  Jugendscbein  bluht! 

"Singend  schafft  sie,  ein  Echo  erklang 
Der  Drossel,  die  fern  am  Waldsaum  sang." 

COBBLER  KEEZAR'S  VISION  (1861). 

The  ballad  of  Keezar90  was  written  on  occasion  of  a  Horti 
cultural  Festival,  and  was  sent  to  Fields  with  the  following  note, 


87  Adolf  Strodtmann,  Amerikanische  Anthologie,  Leipzig,  S.  120. 

88  J.  Noroth,  Bluten  der  neueren  englischen   und  amerikanischen  Poesie 
ins  Deutsche  iibertragen.  Boston,  1874,  S.  99. 

89  W.    Prinzhorn,    Von    beiden    Ufern   des  Atlantik,    Hendel-Halle     1894 
S.  415. 

8S>a  Ernst  O.  Hopp,  Unter  dem  Sternenbanner,  Bromberg,  1877. 

90  See  headnote  to  Poem,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  77. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          63 

before  its  appearance  in   The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  February, 
1861: 

"I  send  thee  an  absurd  ballad  which  I  like  for  its  absurdity. 
Read  it,  and  let  me  know  whether  thee  think  it  worth  submitting 
to  Lowell.  It  is  just  what  'Harper'  would  like,  but  I  would  like 
better  to  see  it  in  the  Maga.,  if  it  is  proper  for  it."91 

Cobbler  Keezar  was  a  noted  character  of  German  birth 
among  the  first  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimac. 

In  Whittier's  Prose  Works,  in  an  article  on  the  Border  War 
of  i?o8,Q2  may  be  found  an  account  of  this  strange  personage. 

Another  account  of  Cobbler  Keezar  is  to  be  found  in  the 
History  of  Haverhill,  Mass™  The  material  for  this  history  was 
partly  collected  by  Whittier,  but  completed  and  edited  by  B.  L. 
Mirick.  As  the  Haverhill  history  adds  a  little  more  to  the 
story,  it  is  quoted  here: 

"This  Keezar,  the  son  of  John  Keezar,  was  a  very  eccentric 
man,  and  a  jack  at  all  trades.  He  was  said  to  be  exceedingly 
proud  of  his  proficiency  in  walking,  leaping,  and  other  manual 
exercises,  and,  if  tradition  may  be  relied  upon,  he  was  certainly  a 
great  walker  and  leaper,  for  it  is  said  that  he  walked  to  Boston 
and  back  again  in  one  night,  and  jumped  over  a  cart  with  two 
large  pails  full  of  milk  in  his  hands.  It  was  his  custom  to  go 
from  this  town  to  Amesbury  and  pitch  his  tent  on  the  side  of  a 
hill,  where  he  worked  at  the  trade  of  shoemaking,  and  lived  in 
all  respects,  while  there,  like  an  austere  hermit." 

"It  was  the  fact  that  Keezar  was  wont  to  pitch  his  tent  on 
Po  Hill  and  mend  the  foot-gear  of  the  Amesbury  people,  that 
suggested  to  the  poet  the  use  of  his  name  as  the  seer  of  the  won 
derful  vision  revealed  by  the  magic  lapstone."94 

"Well  knew  the  tough  old  Teuton 

Who  brewred  the  stoutest  ale, 
And  he  paid  the  good  wife's  reckoning 
In  the  coin  of  song  and  tale. 


91  See  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters,  page  430. 

92  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  pages  375-6. 

98  History  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  edited  by  B.  L.  Mirick,  1832,  page  119. 
94  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  429. 


64          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"The  songs  they  still  are  singing 
Who  dress  the  hills  of  vine, 
The  tales  that  haunt  the  Brocken 
And  whisper  down  the  Rhine." 

******* 
"Oh  for  the  breath  of  vineyards 

Of  apples  and  nuts  and  wine! 
For  an  oar  to  row  and  a  breeze  to  blow 
Down  the  grand  old  river  Rhine ! 

"A  tear  in  his  blue  eye  glistened 

And  dropped  on  his  beard  so  gray, 
'Old,  old  am  I,'  said  Keezar, 
And  the  Rhine  flows  far  away!" 
******* 

"Well  he  knew  the  tricks  of  magic, 

And  the  lapstone  on  his  knee 
Had  the  gift  of  Mormon  goggles 
Or  the  stone  of  Dr.  Dee. 

"For  the  mighty  master  Agrippa95 

Wrought  it  with  spell  and  rhyme 
From  a  fragment  of  magic  moonstone 
In  the  tower  of  Nettesheim. 

"To  a  cobbler  Minnesinger 

The  marvellous  stone  gave  he,— 

And  he  gave  it  in  turn,  to  Keezar, 

Who  brought  it  over  the  sea." 

Then  follows  a  very  beautiful  description  of  woodlands  and 
streams  in  the  Fatherland,  and  the  villages  upon  their  banks,  as 
they  pass  before  Keezar's  view. 

"  'What  is  it  I  see?'  said  Keezar: 

'Am  I  here,  or  am  I  there? 
Is  it  a  fete  at  Bingen  ? 

Do  I  look  on  Frankfurt  fair? 

"But  where  are  the  clowns  and  puppets, 

And  imps  with  horns  and  tail  ? 
And  where  are  the  Rhenish  flagons? 
And  where  is  the  foaming  ale?'  ' 


"B  Heinrich  Cornelius  Agrippa  von  Nettesheim,  born  at  Cologne,  September 
14,  1487,  and  died  1535.    He  was  interested  in  magic  and  studied  at  Wiirzburg, 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          65 

All  sorts  of  strange  people  pass,  in  his  vision,  and  the  poet 
continues : 

"Loud  laughed  the  cobbler  Keezar, 
Laughed  like  a  schoolboy  gay; 
Tossing  his  arms  above  him, 
The  lapstone  rolled  way. 

"It  rolled  down  the  rugged  hillside, 
It  spun  like  a  wheel  bewitched, 
It  plunged  through  the  leaning  willows, 
And  into  the  river  pitched." 

In  another  poem  of  Whittier's,  The  Sycamores,  he  again 
refers  to  the  cobbler  as  at  work  under  the  grand  old  trees  planted 
by  Hugh  Tallant,  the  first  Irish  resident  of  Haverhill: 

"Where  the  ancient  cobbler,  Keezar, 

On  the  open  hillside  wrought 
Singing,  as  he  drew  his  stitches, 

Songs  his  German  masters  taught."96 

The  character  of  Agrippa,  the  Master  of  Magic  of  Nettes- 
heim,  must  have  had  a  fascination  for  Whittier,  as  he  mentions 
him  at  other  times  in  his  works.  In  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim 
he  says : 

"Rare  plants  of  power  and  herbs  of  healing  grew 
Such  as  Von  Helmont  and  Agrippa  knew."98 

In  his  prose  works  in  an  article  on  Magicians  and  Witch 
Folk  he  refers  to  the  knight : 

"It  may  be  that  our  modern  conjurer  defended  himself  on 
grounds  similar  to  those  assumed  by  the  celebrated  knight  of 
Nettesheim,  in  the  preface  to  his  first  Book  of  Magic:  'Some,' 
says  he,  'may  crie  oute  that  I  teach  forbidden  arts,  sow  the  seed 


under  the  abbot,  Tretheim,  the  teacher  of  Paracelsus.  The  books  by  which 
he  is  best  known  are :  De  vanitate  et  incertitude  scientarum  and  De  occulta 
philosophia  sive  de  magia. 

*  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  58. 

"s  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  104. 


66          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

of  heresies,  offend  pious  ears,  and  scandalize  excellent  wits;  that 
I  am  a  sorcerer,  superstitious  and  devilish,  who  indeed  am  a 
magician.  To  whom  I  answer,  that  a  magician  doth  not  among 
learned  men  signifie  a  sorcerer  or  one  that  is  superstitious  or 
devilish,  but  a  wise  man,  a  priest,  a  prophet,  and  that  the  sibyls 
prophesied  most  clearly  of  Christ;  that  magicians,  as  wise  men, 
by  the  wonderful  secrets  of  the  world,  knew  Christ  to  be  born, 
and  came  to  worship  him,  first  of  all;  and  that  the  name  of 
magicke  is  received  by  philosophers,  commended  by  divines,  and 
not  unacceptable  to  the  Gospel."99 

In  a  letter  to  Fields,  Whittier  writes : 

"I  have  been  looking  over  the  proof  of  Snow  Bound. 
.  .  I  shall  dedicate  it  to  my  brother,  and  shall  occupy  one 
page  with  quotations  from  Cor.  Agrippa,  and  from  Emerson's 
SnowStorm!"1™ 

The  quotation  which  he  made  use  of  is: 

"As  the  Spirits  of  Darkness  be  stronger  in  the  dark,  so 
Good  Spirits  which  be  Angels  of  Light  are  augmented  not  only 
by  the  divine  Light  of  the  Sun,  but  also  by  our  common  Wood 
Fire;  and  as  the  Celestial  Fire  drives  away  dark  spirits,  so  also 
this  our  Fire  of  Wood  doth  the  same."101  Cor.  Agrippa,  Occult 
Philosophy,  Book  i,  Chap.  5. 

BARBARA  FRIETCHIE  (1863). 

This  ballad  was  published  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  for 
October,  1863,  and  was  suggested  to  Whittier  by  the  novelist, 
Mrs.  D.  E.  N.  Southworth,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C,  with  whom 
he  became  acquainted  through  his  position  of  corresponding- 
editor  of  The  National  Era.  The  following  is  the  story  as  Mrs. 
Southworth  sent  it  to  the  poet: 

"When  Lee's  army  occupied  Frederick,  the  only  Union  flag 
displayed  in  the  city  was  held  from  an  attic  window  by  Mrs. 
Barbara  Frietchie,  a  widow  lady,  aged  ninety-seven  years.  Such 


M  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  I,  page  402. 

100  S.  T.  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  497. 

101  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  399. 


W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          67 

was  the  paragraph  that  went  the  round  of  the  Washington  papers 
last  September.  Some  time  afterwards,  from  friends  who  were 
in  Frederick  at  the  time,  I  heard  the  whole  story.  It  was  the 
story  of  a  woman's  heroism,  which,  when  heard,  seemed  as  much 
to  belong  to  you  as  a  book  picked  up  with  your  autograph  on 
the  flyleaf.  So  here  it  is : 

"Barbara  Frietchie  was  born  in  1766;  she  was  ten  years  old 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  fifteen 
years  old  at  its  close;  therefore  at  the  most  susceptible  period  of 
her  life  she  must  have  drawn  in  from  that  heroic  epoch  the 
ardent  spirit  of  patriotism  which  inspired  her  act.  When  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th  of  September,  the  advance  of  Lee's  army,  led 
by  the  formidable  rebel  general,  'Stonewall'  Jackson,  entered 
Frederick,  every  Union  flag  was  lowered,  and  the  halliards  cut; 
every  store  and  every  dwelling  house  was  closed ;  the  inhabitants 
had  retreated  indoors;  the  streets  were  deserted,  and,  to  quote 
the  official  report,  'the  city  wore  a  church-yard  aspect'.  But  Mrs. 
Barbara  Frietchie,  taking  one  of  the  Union  flags,  went  up  to  the 
top  of  her  house,  opened  a  garret  window,  and  held  it  forth. 
The  rebel  army  marched  up  the  street,  saw  the  flag;  the  order 
was  given,  'Halt!  Fire!'  and  a  volley  was  discharged  at  the  win 
dow  from  which  it  was  displayed.  The  flag-staff  was  partly 
broken,  so  that  the  flag  drooped ;  the  old  lady  drew  it  in,  broke 
off  the  fragment,  and,  taking  the  stump  with  the  flag  still  attached 
to  it  in  her  hand,  stretched  herself  as  far  out  of  the  window  as 
she  could,  held  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  arm's  length  waving  over 
the  rebels,  and  cried  out  in  a  voice  of  indignation  and  sorrow: 
'Fire  at  this  old  head,  then,  boys;  it  is  not  more  venerable  than 
your  flag'.  They  fired  no  more ;  they  passed  in  silence  and  with 
downcast  looks;  and  she  secured  the  flag  in  its  place,  where  it 
waved  unmolested  during  the  whole  of  the  rebel  occupation  of 
the  city.  'Stonewall'  would  not  permit  her  to  be  troubled.  The 
rebel  army  evacuated  Frederick  on  the  nth,  and  our  troops, 
under  General  Burnside,  entered  on  the  I2th.  'Then',  to  quote 
the  document  again,  'Flags  of  all  sizes  and  from  every  con 
ceivable  place  were  displayed'.  But  as  for  the  heroic  old  lady, 
she  died  a  few  days  after ;  some  thought  she  died  of  joy  at  the 


68          Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

presence  of  the  Union  army,  and  some  that  she  died  of  excite 
ment  and  fatigue  from  the  'lionization'  she  received;  for  those 
who  could  not  emulate  the  old  lady's  courage  did  honor  to  her 
act/'102 

Mrs.  Southworth  had  the  story  from  Mr.  C.  S.  Bramsburg, 
a  neighbor  of  hers  and  a  relative  of  Barbara's.103 

Mrs.  Mary  Quantrell,  of  Frederick,  wrote  to  Whittier, 
claiming  to  be  the  one  who  had  waved  the  flag  and  asking  that 
she  be  recognized.  There  was  so  much  controversy  over  the 
poem  that  Whittier  was  really  annoyed  by  the  letters  that  were 
sent  to  him  about  it.  To  some  one  who  expressed  doubt  as  to 
the  actual  occurrence  of  the  fact  immortalized  by  the  poem,  he 
replied  "That  there  was  a  Dame  Frietchie  in  Frederick  who  loved 
the  old  flag  is  not  disputed  by  any  one.  As  for  the  rest  I  do  not 
feel  responsible.  If  there  was  no  such  occurrence,  so  much  the 
worse  for  Frederick  City".104 

Henry  M.  Nixdorff,  a  German  citizen  of  Frederick  and  a 
neighbor  of  Barbara's,  has  written  a  little  book,105  Historic  Old 
Frederick,  in  which  he  gives  a  sketch  of  Whittier's  heroine,  with 
whom  he  was  personally  acquainted.  According  to  his  account 
she  was  a  Pennsylvania  German  from  Lancaster,  born  in  1766. 
Her  name  and  that  of  her  parents,  Nicholas  and  Catherine 
Hauer,  are  recorded  in  the  records  of  the  First  Reformed  Church 
of  Lancaster.  Her  husband,  John  C.  Fritchie,  conducted 
a  glove  factory  in  Frederick,  Md.,  and  was  a  highly  respected 
citizen.  He  was  successful  in  business,  but  did  not  acquire  great 
wealth,  and  at  his  death  left  his  wife  the  modest  brick  house  on 
West  Patrick  Street.  "The  old  lady,  Mrs.  Fritchie,  was  not 
robust,  but  decision  of  character  was  seen  throughout,  and  judg 
ing  from  her  eyes  and  mouth  she  surely  was  not  one  to  be  trifled 
with.  She  was  one  of  those  persons  who  impress  you  favorably 


108  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  454. 

103  S.  T.  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  456. 

1M  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  457. 

105  Life  of  Whittier's  Heroine,  Barbara  Fritchie,  including  a  brief  but  com 
prehensive  sketch  of  Historic  Old  Frederick,  by  Henry  M.  Nixdorff,  Frederick, 
Md.,  1887. 


Whitticr's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          69 

at  the  first  interview.  I  shall  never  for  a  moment  forget  her  ap 
pearance  as  she  came  into  my  store  during  the  earlier  part  of  the 
war,  leaning  on  her  staff  and  saying  with  the  greatest  earnestness, 
'Do  not  for  a  moment  despair;  stand  firm'." 

The  book  proves  nothing,  however,  except  that  Barbara 
was  a  patriotic  old  lady  who  would  be  capable  of  such  an  act,  and 
that  the  flag  always  fluttered  from  her  window.  He  says: 

"As  the  Confederate  troops  passed  out  West  Patrick  Street, 
I  stood  at  the  front  window  of  my  dwelling.  General  Jackson's 
corps  was  in  advance.  So  intent  was  I  in  noticing  and  reflecting 
on  this  lamentable  action  on  the  part  of  the  people  against  the 
best  government  on  earth,  that  I  lost  sight  of  what  was  going  on 
at  Mrs.  Fritchie's,  although  her  residence  was  not  a  square 
away  from  my  own.  But  this  I  do  believe,  that  if  the  opportunity 
presented,  she  did  not  fail  to  improve  it,  as  Aunt  Fritchie  was 
fearless  and  very  patriotic.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  from  inquiry 
that  General  Jackson106  did  not  pass  by  her  dwelling.  It  appears 
he  left  his  soldiers  to  call  on  Rev.  Dr.  Ross,  pastor  of  the  Presby 
terian  Church.  Grant  it  was  not  General  Jackson,  it  might  have 
been  some  other  officer  in  command ;  if  so,  it  would  not  change 
the  principle." 

He  goes  on  to  relate  that  he  did  see  a  neighbor,  Mrs.  Ouan- 
trell,  standing  on  her  front  porch,  with  a  small  Union  flag  in  her 
hand,  waving  it,  and  apparently  making  the  most  earnest  remarks 
to  a  Confederate  officer. 

Whittier  mentions  Mrs.  Mary  Ouantrell  in  the  head-note107 
to  his  poem  and  says:  "It  is  possible  that  there  has  been  a  blend 
ing  of  the  two  incidents." 

In  The  New  York  Sun,  August  12,  1912,  is  an  article  by  the 
niece  of  Barbara  Frietchie,  Mrs.  Caroline  Winebrenner,  in  which 
she  corroborates  Mrs.  Southworth's  story  and  says  she  was  with 
her  aunt  in  Frederick  at  the  time. 

The  philanthropist,  Dorothea  Dix,  also  investigated  the  case 
and  confirmed  the  facts  as  stated  by  the  novelist  to  the  poet. 


106  Mrs.  Stonewall  Jackson  denies  the  incident  in  her  Life  and  Letters  of 
Gen.  T.  J.  Jackson.    Harpers,  New  York,  1891. 

107  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  342. 


70          Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Whittier  says  in  a  letter  dated  October  19,  1890: 

"I  had  a  portrait  of  the  good  old  lady  Barbara  from  the 
saintly  hand  of  Dorothea  Dix,  whose  life  is  spent  in  works  of 
love  and  duty,  and  a  cane  from  Barbara's  cottage,  sent  me  by 
Dr.  Steiner  of  the  Maryland  Senate.  Whether  she  did  all  that 
my  poem  ascribed  to  her  or  not,  she  was  a  brave  and  true  woman. 
I  followed  the  account  given  me  in  a  private  letter  and  in  the 
papers  of  the  time."108 

A  most  interesting  account  of  the  patriotic  old  lady  is  given 
by  Caroline  H.  Dall.109  She  gives  as  sources  for  her  material 
Valerius  Ebert,  a  nephew  of  Caspar  Fritchie,  and  others  who 
were  either  related  to,  or  knew  the  Fritchies,  and  especially  Dr. 
Lewis  H.  Steiner,  of  Baltimore,  who  presented  Whittier  with 
Barbara's  cane.  Miss  Dall  says  that  her  inquiries  satisfied  her 
that  the  story  was  true  as  told  by  Mrs.  Southworth.  The  novelist 
does  not  say  that  Stonewall  Jackson  ordered  the  troops  to  fire, 
but  that  Whittier  was  inspired  by  the  noble  suggestions  of  the 
story  and  gave  his  imagination  full  play.  It  was  natural  that  he 
should  think  that  the  general  who  gave  the  orders  to  "march  on" 
was  at  his  post  when  the  disturbance  began. 

However,  we  do  not  expect  a  poet  to  cling  always  to  facts. 
Whether  the  incident  occurred  or  not,  Whittier  has  made  of  the 
incident  a  most  stirring  ballad,  that  has  made  Dame  Barbara  im 
mortal.  He  spells  the  name  as  Mrs.  Southworth  sent  it  to  him, 
which  was  in  fact  the  original  spelling,  but  Miss  Dall  says : 

"Barbara  Fritchie  did  not  preserve  the  German  spelling  of 
her  name,  and  I  spell  it  here  as  it  is  spelled  on  her  monument  in 
the  graveyard  at  Frederick."110 

Henry  M.  Nixdorf  also  confirms  this  and  says:  "We -give 
the  English  as  it  was  spelled  on  his  small  sign  at  the  window, 
where  he  was  conducting  business,  Tritchie.'  "ni 

The  poem  has  been  translated  once  into  the  Pennsylvania 
German  dialect  and  twice  into  German.  The  Pennsylvania  Ger- 


108  See  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  J.  G.  Whittier,  page  458. 

109  Barbara  Fritchie,  a  Study,  by  Caroline  H.  Dall,  Boston :  Roberts  Broth 
ers,  1892. 

™  Fritchie,  a  Study,  by  C.  H.  Dall,  page  15. 

m  Life  of  Whittier's  Heroine,  B.  Fritchie,  by  H.  M.  Nixdorf.    Preface. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          71 

man  poem  is  by  Lee  L.  Grumbine,112  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  the 
title  reads  Die  Alt  Bevvy  Fritchie. 

The  translation  into  the  dialect  is  very  interesting  and  is  writ 
ten  in  the  same  metre  as  Whittier's,  but  some  of  the  stanzas  do 
not  scan  very  smoothly ;  the  first  verses  giving  the  description  of 
Frederick,  as  the  rebel  troops  enter  the  city,  will  serve  to  illustrate : 

"Aus  grime  Felder,  mit  Friichte  reich, 

In  der  Morge-kuhle,  im  schone  Deich, 
Ummaurt  bei  griine  Hitwel  dort 

Stehn  die  Kirche-thurm  der  Frererich  Stadt. 

Mit  Appel  un'  Pirsching  Bam  rings  'rumkehrt, 

Ke'  Land  meh'  lieblich  uf  ganser  Erd ! 
Herrlich  schtreckt  'vor  wie'  Gottes-garte, 

Zu  de  hungriche  A'ge  der  Rebel-  Soldate." 

The  translations  into  German  are  by  Ernst  O.  Hopp113  and 
Johann  Straubenmiiller.114  Of  these,  Straubenmiiller's  translation 
is  perhaps  the  better.  It  is,  however,  not  a  literal  translation, 
though  he  uses  the  same  metre  as  Whittier.  Again  the  beginning 
of  the  poem  is  quoted  as  illustration : 

"Von  Hugeln  Maryland's  bewacht 
Winkt  Frederick  uns  zu  und  lacht. 

Ringsum  ist's  einem  Garten  gleich, 

An  Korn  und  Obst  und  Friichten  reich. 

September  war's,  der  Morgen  fein, 
Als  Lee  brach  wettergleich  herein." 

THE  PALATINE. 

This  poem  appeared  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  January, 
1867. 

The  legend115  on  which  the  ballad  of  The  Palatine  is  founded 
was  told  to  Whittier  by  his  friend  Joseph  P.  Hazard,  of  New 
port,  R.  I. 

112  See  Pennsylvania  German  Dialect,  by  Lee  L.  Grumbine,  contained  in  the 
Pennsylvania  German  Society  Proceedings  and  Addresses  at  Harrisburg,  Octo 
ber  25,  1901,  Vol.  12,  published  1903,  page  go. 

118  England  and  Amerika,  herausgegeben  von  Julius  Hart,  Minden,  1885. 

114  Herbstrosen,  Gesammelte  Gedichte  von  Johann  Straubenmiiller,  New 
York,  1889,  S.  161. 

116  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters,  page  527. 


72          Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Faust116  suggests  that  the  wrecked  ship,  to  which  Whittier's 
poem  refers,  was  doubtless  from  the  Palatinate  and  carried  Ger 
man  immigrants.  According  to  Faust,  the  vessel  was  probably  the 
Herbert,  which  sailed  from  England,  in  1710,  in  company  with 
nine  other  ships,  carrying  in  all  about  3000  persons,  most  of  whom 
were  destined  for  the  Schoharie  region  in  New  York.  It  was 
bound  for  Philadelphia  and  was  wrecked  on  the  east  coast  of 
Long  Island.  Tradition  says  that  the  vessel  was  laden  with 
treasure  and  that  this  excited  the  greed  of  the  crew,  who  slew 
the  immigrants  and  made  off  with  their  booty. 

In  the  poem,  the  wreckers  on  shore  lured  the  ship  to 
its  ruin  with  false  lights,  and  after  all  on  board  were  lost,  burned 
the  wreck.  After  its  publication,  Whittier  received  the  following 
letter116*  from  an  old  man,  Benjamin  Corydon,  of  Napoli,  N.  Y., 
telling  of  his  having  seen  the  phantom-ship : 

"I  sent  you  a  paper  containing  a  statement117  of  what  I  knew 
about  the  Palatine  or  Phantom  of  Block  Island.  I  saw  her  a 
number  of  times  in  my  early  days;  she  always  came  on  the  same 
night  of  the  year.  My  father  lived  right  opposite  Block  Island 
on  the  Main,  so  we  had  a  fair  view  of  her  as  she  passed  down  by 
the  Island.  I  think  it  must  be  seventy  years  or  more  since  the 
last  time  she  was  seen ;  it  was  the  greatest  sight  I  ever  saw  in  my 
long  life.  It  came  right  from  the  hand  of  the  Almighty,  she  was 
sent  no  doubt  to  let  them  miserable  men  know  that  he  hadn't  for 
got  their  wickedness  in  murdering  her  people  when  they  were  on 
their  knees  at  prayer  thanking  God  for  saving  them  from  being 
drowned." 

BARON  STEUBEN. 

In  an  article,  The  Black  Men  in  the  Revolution  and  War  of 
i8i2,117&  Whittier  relates  this  incident  of  the  celebrated  Hessian, 
Baron  Steuben,  in  the  American  Revolution : 

"There  is  a  touching  anecdote  related  of  Baron  Steuben 
on  the  occasion  of  the  disbandment  of  the  American  army.  A 


116  A.  B.  Faust,  German  Element  in  the  United  States,  page  80. 
1163  Letter  in  possession  of  Mr.  Pickard. 

117  See  Pickard :  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  527, 
for  this  statement. 

117a  Prose  Works  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  Vol.  II,  pages  407-8. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          73 

black  soldier,  with  his  wounds  unhealed,  utterly  destitute,  stood 
on  the  wharf  just  as  a  vessel  bound  for  his  distant  home  was 
getting  under  way.  The  poor  fellow  gazed  at  the  vessel  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  and  gave  himself  up  to  despair.  The  warm-hearted 
foreigner  witnessed  his  emotion  and,  inquiring  into  the  cause  of 
it,  took  his  last  dollar  from  his  purse  and  gave  it  to  him,  with 
tears  of  sympathy  trickling  down  his  cheeks.  Overwhelmed  with 
gratitude,  the  poor  wounded  soldier  hailed  the  sloop  and  was 
received  on  board.  As  it  moved  out  from  the  wharf,  he  cried 
back  to  his  noble  friend  on  shore:  'God  Almighty  bless  you, 
Master  Baron !'  " 

GERMAN  AMERICAN  TRANSLATION  OF  WHITTIER'S 
"HOMESTEAD." 

In  Amesbury  is  a  scrap  book,  in  which  the  poet  had  collected 
tributes  to  him  on  his  birthdays,  and  things  of  a  like  nature. 
Among  these  is  a  clipping  taken  from  The  Reading  Times.  It  is 
a  translation  of  Whittier's  poem  Homestead,  entitled  Die  Verlas- 
sene  Heirnat,  and  signed  H.  L.  F. 

The  translation  is  by  Henry  L.  Fisher,  who  was  an  attorney- 
at-law  of  York,  Pa.,  and  the  author  of  several  interesting  volumes 
on  Pennsylvania  German  Life  and  Customs. 

His  poem  is  in  the  same  metre,  but  lacks  the  beauty  and 
smoothness  of  Whittier's  poem.  It  is  not  an  exact  translation, 
nor  do  the  stanzas  follow  exactly  the  order  of  Whittier's  poem. — 
Fur  die  Reading  Times.  Die  Verlassene  Heimat.  Nach  Whit 
tier's  Homestead. 

Am  blassen  Berg  steht's  leere  Haus — 

Ach,  hab'  ich  das  zuletzt  erlebt? 
Grinst's  Gespenst  auf's  leere  Feld  hinaus? 

Wo  einst  die  Erndte  schweb't? 

Un'pfliigt,  un'sat  und  ungemaht 

Liegt  der  versaumt',  verlass'ne  Grund, 

Einst  fruchtbar  und  lebhaft  mit  Mad', 
Und  Knaben,  frisch  und  g'sund. 

Der  Garten,  blum-  und  krauterlos — 

Kein  Hausweib  ist  mehr  hier  geneigt, 
Das  Unkraut  iiberwachst  die  Ros', 

Wo  jetzt  die  Schlange  schleicht. 


74          VVhittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Der  Lilacbusch,  einst  bliihend  hier, 

1st  laub-  und  bliitenlos ; 
Allein  und  traurig  an  der  Thur, 

Da  bliih't  noch  eine  Ros'. 

Im  Staub  und  Schimmel,  alt  und  faul, 

Lasst's  Wild  sein'  leise  Spur, 
Und  in  dem  grossen  Schornstein-Maul 

Webt's  Spinnlein  seine  Schnur. 

Die  alte  Scheuer  ist  im  Verfall, 

Man  hort  kein  Basters  Lustigkeit, 

Auch  nicht  des  Flegels  Wiederhall, 
So  wie  in  alter  Zeit. 

So  traurig  und  so  einsam  scheint's, 

So  grimmig,  gram  und  graus, 
Bald  uberall,  so  dass  man  mein't 

Die  G'spenster  halten  Haus. 

Ach,  Heimath,  unbewohnt,  verloren — 
Ist  jed'  Andenken  im  Vergang? 

All'  fort — Verwandten,  hier  geboren — 
Drum  Leid  ist  mein  Gesang. 

Ihr  Wanderer  vom  Heimathsland, 

Verlasset  Amter,  G'schaft,  Vertrauen, 

Und  schliesst  mit  mir  ein  treues  Band — 
Die  Heimath  wiederbauen. 

Komm't  wieder  wo  die  Lorbeer  bliihen, 
Im  kiihlen  Schatten  alter  Baum' — 

Fichten  und  Tannen,  dunkelgriin — 
Und  wieder  frohlich  sein. 

Obschon  der  Vorteil  ist  gering, 

Geld  ist  doch  nicht  der  hochste  Werth, 

Die  Heimath  mehr  Vergniigen  bringt 
Als  Reichtum  aller  Erd. 

All'  was  der  Geiz  verlangen  kann — 
Ihr  Handels-Sklaven,  ohne  Gunst, 

Was  war's  zum  kunstlos  landlich'  Mann  ? 
Werthlos,  freudlos,  umsonst! 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          75 

Der  glikklich'  Landbauer,  der  ist  f  rei — 

Es  herrscht  keiner  iiber  ihn ; 
Sein  Konigreich,  die  Bauerei — 

Er  herrschet  wo  er  dien't 

O,  Vater,  ihr  die  Walderwand' 

Mit  Riesen-Stark'  hernieder  hauen ! 
O,  Mutter,  ihr,  mit  treuen  Hand', 

Die  Heimath  hiilften  bauen! 

Die  landlich'  Knaben  kamen  hier 

Ihr'  liebsten  Schatzchen  ofters  sehen— 

Die  Madchen  lieb,  voll  Gunst  und  Zier — 
Am  Weben,  Spinnen,  Nahen. 

Hier  spielten  Kinder  nach  der  Schul', 

Wie  herrlich,  f  rohlich,  f  roh  und  f  rei ; 

Die  liebe  Mutter  sass  im  Stuhl, 
Wiegt'  und  strickt'  dabei. 

Durch  murmelnden  Bach  und  seufzend'  Luft, 

Wiird'  wenig  G'heimniss  offenbart ; 
Im  Kirchhof,  in  der  stillen  Gruft, 

Schlaft  aber  viel  und  wart' ! 

Ach  prahl'  nicht  mehr,  mein'  Heimath  arm, 

Dein'  reichen  Sohne,  feme,  draus', 
Vergesslich,  dass  nur  ein  jeder  Schwarm 

Lasst  nur  ein  leeres  Haus. 

Mit  fleissiger,  muthwilliger  Hand, 

Und  allem  das  die  Kunst  euch  bringt, 

Verbesseret  das  Heimathsland— 
Seid  frohlich  hier  und  singt. 

West  York,  April  14,  1886. 

H.  L.  F. 


TRANSLATION  OF  "CLERICAL  OPPRESSORS"  BY  A  GERMAN 

AMERICAN. 

The  following  letter  and  translation  was  sent  to  me  by  Mr. 
S.  T.  Pickard,  with  permission  to  print  it: 


76  Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

New  Bedford,  Mass.,  1875. 
John  G.  Whittier,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir, — A  while  since  I  translated  one  of  your  National 
Lyrics  "Clerical  Oppressors"  into  German,  and  however  poorly 
I  may  have  succeeded,  I  deem  it  but  just  to  send  you,  the  author, 
a  copy  thereof.  Hoping  that  the  language  is  not  a  stranger  to  you, 
and  likewise  that  it  has  not  lost  all  its  beauties  in  the  attempt, 
I  remain, 

Yours  Respectfully, 

JULIUS  KlRSCHBAUM, 

30  Purchase  Street, 

New  Bedford. 

Pfaffische  Unterdriicker.    Frei  nach  J.  G.  Whittier. 

Grosser  Gott! — und  dieses  sind  sie, 
Die  Dir  an  dem  Altare  dienen,  Herr  des  Rechts ! 
Manner,  die  ihre  Hand  in  Segen  und  Gebet 
Auf  des  Lichtes  Arche  legen. 

Was,  predigen  und  Menschen  stehlen? 
Dank  sagen — und  gequalte  Arme  rauben  ? 
Von  Freiheit  plappern,  und  verrammeln  dann 
Fest  des  Gef ang'nen  Thiir  ? 

Was?  Diener,  Knechte  deines 

Barmherzigen  Sohnes,  der  zu  suchen  und  zu  losen  kam, 
Verier 'ne  und  Gebund'ne, — in  Bande  schmieden 
Den  beraubten  Sklaven  ? 

Pilatus  und  Herodus  Freunde ! 
Priester  und  Herrscher,  wie  vor  Zeit  vereint ! 
Gerechter,  heiliger  Gott !  ist  deine  Kirche  es 
Die  Rauber  starkt  ? 

Bezahlte  Heuchler,  die  da 
Recht  verdrehen,  und  cleinem  heil'gen  Wort 
Die  hohe  Wahrheit  nehmen,  die  sengt 
In  Warnung  und  Verweis. 

Fresset  f ett  euch  Manner,  f resst ! 
Und  Gott  gedankt  auf  den  gezierten  Kanzeln, 
Dass  durch  gesclumd'ner  Sklaven  Elend 
Ihr  cure  Koffer  fiillt. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          77 

Wie  lange,  Herr,  wie  lang' 
Soll'n  diese  Pfaffen  Wahrheit  feilschen, 
Und  am  Altar  in  deinem  Namen 
Fiir  Unrecht  beten? 

1st  am  Firmamente 

Deine  Hand  zum  Schlag  nicht  ausgestreckt  ? 
Soil  Recht  nicht  iiben  der  Erd',  des  Himmels 
Lebendiger  Gott? — 

Wehe  alien  dann,  die,  Briider, 
Kinder  eines  gleichen  Vaters,  unterdriicken ! 
Berauben  seines  Schmuckes,  seiner  Krone, 
Den  ewigen  Geist ! 

Wehe,  well'  den  Pfaffen, 
Die  man  mit  Blntzins  da  bezahlt — 
Wahrheit  dafiir  verderbend,  andernd 
Auf  ihren  Pfad. 

Ihre  Macht  und  Ehre 

Wird  vergeh'n ;  und  ihre  Namen  sogar  sollen 
Schmutzig  vor  dem  ganzen  Volke  stehen 
Im  Licht  der  Freiheit. 

Und  eile,  eile  ihn. 

Den  Tag  wo  Unrecht  endet — Freiheit,  Liebe, 
Wahrheit,  Recht,  wird  herrschen  durch  die  Welt 
Wie  iiber  Sternen. — 

Whittier  sent  the  following  unpublished  letter118  to  the 
translator : 

"Amesbury,  17,  5th  mo.,  1875. 
"Dear  Friend : 

"I  am  happy  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  thy  translation  of 
my  poem.  So  far  as  my  imperfect  knowledge  of  German  enables 
me  to  judge,  it  is  a  good  rendering  of  my  verses,  in  spirit  as  well 
as  in  letter. 

"Some  translations1 18a  of  my  poems,  I  received  two  or  three 
years  ago  from  Berlin.    They  were  made  by  Monte  Block. 
"I  am  truly  thy  friend, 

"John  G.  Whittier." 

118  Letter  in  possession  of  Wm.  G.  Kirschbaum,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

118a  Owing  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Pickard,  I  was  unable  to  get  hold  of  these 
translations,  but  if  I  have  access  to  them  later,  I  will  publish  them  in  some 
journal. 


CHAPTER  II. 
WHITTIER  AND  GERMAN  THEMES. 

Whittier  has  been  compared,  and  not  inaptly,  to  some  of  the 
poets  of  the  Befreiungskriege  in  Germany,  especially  to  Theodor 
Korner. 

Isaac  Knapp,  the  publisher  of  Whittier 's  little  volume  of 
Poems119  written  during  the  progress  of  the  Abolition  Question 
in  the  United  States  between  the  years  1830  and  1838,  says  in 
his  introductory  remarks: 

"A  kindly  and  generous  spirit,  filled  like  that  of  Whittier, 
'with  all  gentleness  and  calmest  hope',  makes  a  sacrifice  of  its 
most  cherished  delights  and  occupations,  when  it  springs  to  the 
defense  of  the  difficult  pass  which  commands  the  battle-field  of 
Christian  Freedom,  with  the  determination  to  defend  it  unto 
blood,  and  yet  to  shed  none. 

"Except  in  this  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  mode  of 
effecting  deliverance  from  oppression,  Whittier  is  the  'Korner  of 
America'." 

Whittier,  like  Arndt,  fought  his  battles  with  the  pen,  and  we 
will  see  later  that  Whittier  wrote  a  poem  under  the  inspiration  of 
one  of  Arndt's  Marchen. 

As  a  ballad  writer  Whittier  is  unsurpassed  in  America,  and 
his  ballads  have  been  compared  to  those  of  the  German  poet 
Ludwig  Uhland.  An  article  on  Uhland  in  The  Independent, 
December  n,  1862,  speaks  of  the  poet's  death  and  says: 
"UhJand's  best  songs  are  sweet  ballads,  full  of  archness,  or 
pathos,  or  quiet  beauty,  yet  he  does  not  lack  vigor.  Our  Uhland 
is  Whittier." 

Whittier's  ballads  are  as  true  to  the  spirit  of  New  England 
as  are  Uhland's  to  his  own  native  Suabia.  The  Quaker  poet 
knew  the  poems  of  the  German  poet.  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Fields, 
dated  7th  mo.,  14,  1882,  he  refers  to  the  ballad  of  Auf  der  Ueber- 


119  Published  by  Isaac  Knapp,  Bostpn,  1837. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          79 

fahrt:  "How  can  I  thank  thee  for  the  graphic  description  of  your 
visit  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  strange  and  picturesque  Cloverly, 
and  venerable  Hermanstow,  with  its  Norman  tower  looking,  as 
the  rare  old  vicar  did,  into  the  ocean's  mystery  ?  Since  reading  it, 
I  seem  to  have  been  with  you  all  the  way.  Did  John  Oak  or  his 
uncle  seem  aware  that  they  were  carrying  a  third  passenger,  like 
the  boatman  in  Uhland's  ballad,  and  did  you  pay  double  fare  on 
my  account?"120 

In  an  unpublished  letter  to  Mrs.  Fields,  dated  Amesbury, 
roth  mo.,  29,  1886,  Whittier  speaks  again  of  this  ballad:121  "The 
very  thought  of  your  visit  here  makes  me  happy.  .  .  .  Like 
the  invisible  boatman  in  the  German  ballad,  I  rode  with  you  all 
the  way  to  Berwich." 

W.  Sloane  Kennedy122  calls  attention  to  the  similarity  of 
Platen's  Grab  im  Busento  and  Whittier's  Funeral  Tree  of  the 
Sokokis:  "The  latter  well-known  poem  is  pitched  in  as  high  and 
solemn  a  key  as  Platen's  Grab  im  Biisento,  a  poem  similar  in 
theme  to  Whittier's." 

It  is  hardly  likely  that  Whittier  was  influenced  by  Platen's 
poem.  He  nowhere  mentions  Platen  in  his  works  or  letters.  In 
a  note123  to  the  poem  he  tells  us  that  the  theme  was  taken  from  an 
actual  occurrence  amongst  the  Sokokis  Indians  around  Casco 
Bay ;  so  that  it  seems  to  be  mere  chance  that  the  themes  resemble 
each  other. 

THE  DEVIL  LEGENDS,  FAUST  AND  GOETHE. 

If  one  searches  the  pages  of  the  papers  edited  by  Whittier 
between  the  years  1828  and  1838,  one  will  find  that  the  legends 
in  connection  with  the  devil  and  the  Faust  story  were  occupying 
Whittier's  mind. 

In  The  Essex  Gazette  for  September  27,  1828,  is  a  lengthy 
synopsis  of  the  interesting  story  of  German  folklore;  of  the 


120  Pickard's  Life  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  681.  The  original  letter 
is  in  possession  of  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields,  Boston,  Mass. 

121  Original  letter  owned  by  Mrs.  Fields. 

122 /.  G.  Whittier,  His  Life,  Genius  and  Writings,  by  W.  S.  Kennedy,  Bos 
ton,  1883. 

128  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  u. 


8o          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

hunter,  who,  by  a  compact  with  the  devil,  obtained  a  certain  number 
of  bullets  destined  to  hit,  without  fail,  whatever  object  he  wished. 

The  first  time  that  the  story  was  made  use  of  in  literature, 
was  by  Johann  August  Apel  in  his  Gespensterbuch,  and  it  is  from 
a  translation  of  this  that  Whittier  makes  his  synopsis.  The  title 
of  Whittier's  story  reads  Der  Freischutz,  or  The  Magic  Ball, 
from  the  German  of  A.  Apel.124  The  work  has  no  signature,  but 
A.  W.  Thayer,  at  that  time  editor  of  the  paper,  has  marked  it  as 
Whittier's.  At  times  the  work  is  mere  synopsis ;  at  other  times 
he  quotes  directly  from  the  translation. 

The  synopsis  begins  with  the  following  introductory  remarks : 

"There  is  a  wildness  of  conception  in  this  singular  produc 
tion,  equalled  only  by  the  awful  grandeur  of  its  descriptions. 
Our  interest  is,  at  the  commencement,  strongly  excited,  and  sup 
ported  through  the  whole  with  a  strange  and  fearful  intensity, 
which  more  than  once  during  the  progress  of  the  tale  rises  almost 
to  a  feeling  of  horror.  The  scene  is  laid  in  a  wild  and  romantic 
district  of  Germany;  and  the  tale  commences  with  a  discourse 
between  Betram,  the  forester  of  Lindenhayn,  and  his  wife  Anne, 
on  the  subject  of  their  daughter's  marriage." 

Whittier  again  mentions  Der  Frieschiitz  in  the  article  on 
The  Agency  of  Evil:125 

"They  stood  there  on  their  little  patch  of  sanctified  territory 
like  the  gamekeeper  of  Der  Freischutz  in  the  charmed  circle; 
within  were  prayer  and  fasting,  unmelodious  psalmody  and 
solemn  hewing  of  heretics  'before  the  Lord  in  Gilgal'.  " 

The  Everlasting  Taper. 

This  story  appeared  first  in  The  New  England  Review  for 
September  5,  1831,  and  again  in  The  Essex  Gazette  for  February 
n,  1832.  It  is  evident  that  he  had  the  Faust  theme  in  his  mind, 
as  he  says  at  the  beginning  of  the  story:  "It  is  an  old  narration, 
and  would  figure  well  in  an  improved  edition  of  Faust's  Mephis- 


124  Tales  of  the  Wild  and  the  Wonderful,  published  in  London,  1825 ;  Phila 
delphia,  1826,  page  97- 

136  Vol.  Til,  Prose  Works,  page  257,  Riverside  Edition. 


W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          81 

topholes."  The  fact  that  Whittier  published  the  story  again  in 
the  month  after  Goethe's  death  seems  also  significant.  The  scene 
of  the  story  is  laid  in  France,  however,  and  not  in  Germany.  It 
has,  as  Whittier  says,  several  things  in  common  with  the  Faust 
legends.  The  devil  appears  in  the  form  of  a  monkey;  and  in  the 
old  Faust  legends126  there  appear  to  Faust  a  whole  legion  of 
lesser  devils  in  the  form  of  apes,  boars,  stags,  bears,  wolves, 
goats,  etc.,  "mit  denen  sich  Faust  lustig  macht".  In  the  stories 
connected  with  Faust's  famulus,  Wagner,127  Faust  wills  to  him 
before  his  death  his  possessions  and  procures  for  him  a  serving 
spirit  in  the  form  of  a  monkey  named  "Auerhahn".  However 
it  was  a  common  thing  in  the  sixteenth  century  to  think  of  an  ape 
as  having  near  relationship  to  the  devil.128 

The  compact  for  thirty  years  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  stories 
connected  with  Wagner,  as  his  "Pact"129  with  the  "Affe,  Auer 
hahn"  was  for  thirty  years.  The  halving  the  time  of  the  contract 
by  counting  days  and  nights  separately  is  also  found  in  the  Puppet 
plays  of  Faust. 

As  the  story  is  an  interesting  one  and  is  not  included  in 
Whittier's  collected  works  it  is  given  in  full  in  the  appendix. 

The  Gretchen  theme  was  in  Whittier's  mind  also  during 
these  years,  as  he  writes  a  prose  story  and  several  poems,  not 
included  in  his  collected  works,  on  the  theme  of  wronged  love. 

However,  episodes  in  the  life  and  works  of  Lord  Byron 
influenced  his  thoughts,  as  he  refers  a  number  of  times  to 
Don  Juan  and  to  Byron's  life.  In  The  New  England  Review  for 
September  13,  1830,  is  a  poem,  The  Spectre,  founded,  as  Whittier 
says  in  a  note,  on  an  episode  in  Lord  Byron's  life,  in  which  he 
tires  of  the  girl  whose  ruin  he  has  caused  and  brings  her  to  a 
sad  death. 

In  the  number  of  The  Review  for  October  n,  1830,  Whit 
tier  publishes  a  tale,  The  Skeptic,  of  a  German  university  student 


126  See  Carl  Kiesewetter,  Faust  in  der  Gerschichte  und  Tradition,  Leipzig, 
1893,  page  202. 

127  See  Carl  Kiesewetter,  Faust  in  der  Gerschichte  und  Tradition,  page  499. 

128  See  Luther's  Tischreden,  Edition  Forstemann,  III,  S.  34,  also  S.  48. 

129  See  Kiesewetter,  page  499. 


82          Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

and  his  wicked  companion,  Faustendorff,  with  the  introductory 
remarks : 

'The  following  tale  will  be  read  with  interest.  It  is  a 
thrilling  development  of  the  horrible  effects  of  infidelity  on  the 
human  heart — a  deadly  Sirocco,  blasting  everything  fresh  and 
beautiful  in  the  human  heart." — Ed.  Rezneiv. 

THE  PROSELYTES. 

In  The  Neiv  England  Magazine  for  September,  1833, 
appeared  The  Proselytes,  a  story  of  William  Penn's  visit  to 
Germany  and  Holland  in  1667.  Here  we  see  the  student  at  his 
books,  seeking  for  the  truth  which  he  can  not  fathom,  but 
instead  of  a  Mephistopheles  appearing,  a  devil  to  lead  his  soul 
to  destruction,  while  giving  him  all  earthly  knowledge,  appears 
a  good  angel,  in  the  form  of  a  Quaker,  William  Penn,  to  bring 
him  to  the  knowledge  of  truth. 

As  this  story130  is  included  in  Whittier's  collected  works, 
it  is  not  given  here. 

In  1835  in  The  Demon  of  the  Study,131  Whittier  mentions 
devils  of  all  descriptions  and  describes  the  reading  demon.  He 
says  of  the  devil  of  Faust  and  of  the  devil  of  Martin  Luther  in 
this  poem: 

"The  friend  of  Faust  was  a  faithful  one, 

Agrippa's  demon  wrought  in  fear, 
And  the  devil  of  Martin  Luther  sat 

By  the  stout  monk's  side  in  social  chat." 

The  ballad,132  The  New  Wife  and  the  Old,  1843,  is  founded 
on  one  of  the  New  England  legends  about  General  Moulton,  of 
Hampton,  N.  H.  Whittier  says  of  him  in  a  note  to  the  poem: 
"He  was  regarded  by  his  neighbors  as  a  Yankee  Faust,  in  league 
with  the  adversary." 


130  Prose  Works,  Vol.  i,  page  305. 

131  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  6. 

132  Cambridge  Edition,  page  21. 


Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          83 

In  1846,  in  an  article  on  Thomas  Carlyle  and  the  Slave 
Question^  Whittier  speaks  of  Carlyle 's  ideas  on  the  subject  as 
doing  "honor  to  the  devil  of  Faust": 

"A  late  number  of  F  raser's  Magazine  contains  an  article 
bearing  the  unmistakable  impress  of  the  Anglo-German  peculiari 
ties  of  Thomas  Carlyle,  entitled  An  Occasional  Discourse  on  the 
Negro  Question,  which  would  be  interesting  as  a  literary  curiosity 
were  it  not  in  spirit  and  tendency  so  unspeakably  wicked  as  to  ex 
cite  in  every  right-minded  reader  a  feeling  of  amazement  and  dis 
gust.  With  a  hard,  brutal  audacity,  a  blasphemous  irreverence, 
and  a  sneering  mockery  which  would  do  honor  to  the  devil  of 
Faust,,  it  takes  issue  with  the  moral  sense  of  mankind  and  the  pre 
cepts  of  Christianity." 

Later  in  the  same  article,134  in  speaking  of  Carlyle,  he  refers 
to  the  devil  legend  made  use  of  by  Hauff  in  his  story,  Das  Kaltc 
Hers: 

"His  heart  has  got  much  on  the  wrong  side ;  or  rather,  he 
seems  to  us  very  much  in  the  condition  of  the  coalburner  in  the 
German  tale,  who  had  swapped  his  heart  of  flesh  for  a  cobble 
stone." 

In  the  poem  My  Soul  and  7,135  1847,  questions  of  doubt  and 
the  soul's  desire  to  fathom  the  unknown  mysteries  occupy  the 
poet's  mind. 

"What  my  soul,  was  thy  errand  here? 

Was  it  mirth  or  ease, 
Or  heaping  up  dust  from  year  to  year? 
'Nay,  none  of  these !' 


"And  where  art  thou  going,  soul  of  mine? 

Can'st  see  the  end? 
And  whither  this  troubled  life  of  mine 
Evermore  doth  tend  ? 


133  Prose  Works,  Vol.  Ill,  page  133. 

134  Prose  Works,  Vol.  Ill,  page  144. 

135  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  426. 


84          IVhittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"I  call  on  the  souls  who  have  left  the  light 

To  reveal  their  lot ; 
I  bend  mine  ear  to  that  wall  of  night, 
And  they  answer  not. 

"But  I  hear  around  me  sighs  of  pain 

And  the  cry  of  fear, 

And  the  sound  like  the  slow  sad  dripping  of  rain, 
Each  drop  a  tear ! 

"Ah,  the  cloud  is  dark,  and  day  by  day 

I  am  moving  thither: 
I  must  pass  beneath  it  on  my  way — 
God  pity  me !— Whither?" 

He  confesses  himself  unable  to  answer  these  questions,  but 
takes  refuge  in  Faith: 

"Know  well,  my  soul,  God's  hand  controls 

Whate'er  thott  fearest, 
Round  him  in  calmest  music  rolls 
Whate'er  thou  hearest. 


"Nothing  before,  nothing  behind ; 

The  steps  of  Faith 
Fall  on  the  seeming  void,  and  find 
The  rock  beneath." 

And  as  Goethe  solves  the  question  in  the  second  part  of 
Faust,  so  to  Whittier,  salvation  lies  in  love  and  service : 

"O  restless  spirit!  wherefore  strain 

Beyond  thy  sphere  ? 

Heaven  and  Hell,  with  their  joy  and  pain, 
Are  now  and  here. 

"Back  to  thyself  is  measured  well 

All  thou  hast  given ; 

Thy  neighbor's  wrong  is  thy  present  hell 
His  bliss,  thy  heaven." 


Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          8=; 

In  The  Chapel  of  the  Hermits,  1851,  Whittier  uses  as  theme 
for  his  poem  an  incident  related  in  a  note  to  Bernardin  Henri 
Saint  Pierre's  Etude  de  la  Nature. 

It  is  a  time  in  Pierre's  life  where  he  is  in  a  condition  of 
doubt  and  despair  in  his  search  after  truth.  He  rinds  help  in  an 
incident  which  occurs  at  a  chapel  of  the  Hermits,  which  he  had 
visited  with  J.  J.  Rousseau,  and  which  is  told  in  the  poem. 
Whittier  says  Pierre  attributed  his  improved  state  of  mind  to  the 
counsels  of  Rousseau  and  quotes  from  Pierre:136  "I  threw  my 
eyes  upon  the  works  of  nature,  which  spake  to  all  my  senses  a 
language  which  neither  time  nor  nations  have  it  in  their  power 
to  alter.  ...  I  derived  inexpressible  satisfaction  from  his 
society.  .  .  .  Even  when  he  deviated,  and  became  the  victim 
of  himself  or  of  others,  he  could  forget  his  own  misery  in  devo 
tion  to  the  welfare  of  mankind.  .  .  .  His  sins,  ivhich  are 
many,  are  forgiven,  for  he  loved  much." 

Here  again  we  have  the  theme  of  the  Goethian  solution  of 
salvation  through  works,  in  the  life  of  the  great  French  author. 

In  the  poem  Questions  of  Life,137  1852,  Whittier  again  takes 
up  questions  into  the  mysteries  of  life. 

In  the  poem  The  Haschisch,  1854,  Whittier  refers  to  Wal- 
purgis  Nacht: 

"The  poppy  visions  of  Cathay, 

The  heavy  beer-trance  of  the  Swabian ; 
The  wizard  lights  and  demon  play 

Of  nights  Walpurgis  and  Arabian  !"138 

As  has  been  mentioned,  the  translator  Charles  T.  Brooks 
was  a  friend  of  Whittier  and  there  is  a  copy  of  Brooks'  trans 
lation  of  Faust  in  Whittier's  Library  in  Amesbury. 

In  an  unpublished  letter  to  James  T.  Fields  from  Whittier, 
Amesbury,  4th,  ist  mo.,  1857,  he  writes:139  "I  am  delighted  with 
Brooks'  Faust.  It  gives  me  for  the  first  time  an  agreeable  idea  of 
Goethe's  genius." 


136  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  39.    See  headnote  to  poem. 
13T  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  432. 

138  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  316. 

139  Original  letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Annie  Fields,  Boston,  Mass. 


86          Whittier^  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

This  translation  was  published  in  1856,  so  it  is  too  late  to 
have  influenced  our  author  in  the  works  we  have  just  discussed, 
but  there  were  other  opportunities  for  Whittier  to  get  acquainted 
with  Goethe's  Faust.  As  early  as  1825  there  was  an  English 
translation140  by  Lord  Francis  L.  Gower.  Even  if  Whittier  may 
not  have  seen  this,  there  were  translations  and  reviews 
of  Faust  in  a  number  of  the  periodicals141  which  Whittier  read, 
chief  among  these  were  The  North  American  Review,  The 
Quarterly  Review:,  and  Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Review. 

Frank  P.  Stearns  remarks  in  his  Sketches  from  Concord  and 
Appledore1*2  that  Whittier  read  the  translation  of  Faust,  pre 
sented  to  him  by  Bayard  Taylor,  but  he  read  it  for  the  sake  of 
old  acquaintance ;  but  he  did  not  like  it  and  wondered  especially 
what  explanation  Goethe's  apologists  could  make  for  the  strange 
and  extraordinary  characters  in  the  second  part. 

Stearns'  statement  does  not  agree  with  the  view  expressed  in 
the  letter  to  Fields,  written  many  years  before  the  appearance  of 
Taylor's  translation. 

In  answer  to  my  inquiries,  Mr.  Stearns  writes  in  a  letter 
dated  from  Arlington  Heights,  Mass.,  November  25,  1914: 

"Whittier  made  the  statement,  you  quote,  to  me  at  the  Isle 
of  Shoals;  but  he  had  a  high  opinion  of  Goethe's  and  Schiller's 
minor  poems. 

Faithfully, 

FRANK  P.  STEARNS/' 

As  Stearns  does  not  state  at  what  period  of  our  poet's  life 
this  was,  I  assume  that  it  was  early,  as  Whittier,  like  Emerson 
and  many  others  of  his  day  in  New  England,  changed  his  atti 
tude  later  in  regard  to  Goethe.  Whittier  expresses  distinctly  his 
appreciation  of  Goethe  in  1870,  when  Bayard  Taylor  published 
his  translation  of  Faust.  As  these  views  are  quoted  in  the  chapter 
on  Bayard  Taylor,  they  are  not  further  discussed  here. 


140  See  Goedekes  Grundriss,  Bd.  IV,  S.  52. 

141  See  German  Lit.  in  Am.  Maga.  prior  to  1846,  by  Scott  Holland  Good 
night,  University  of  Wis.  Diss.  1907. 

li2  Sketches  from  Concord  &  Appledore,  by  Frank  Preston  Stearns,  1895, 
page  263. 


Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          87 

TRANSLATION  OF  DER  ERLKONIG. 

Whittier  was  occupied  with  other  Goethe  themes  besides  the 
Faust  questions,  and  translated  the  Erlkdnig,  as  Mr.  Pickard 
thinks,  about  1840.  It  has  not  appeared  in  print  except  in  the 
Goethe  Jahrbuch^  where  it  may  be  found  with  the  following 
note  by  Luclwig  Geiger : 

"Engliscke  Ubersetzung  des  Erlkonigs. 
" John G.  Whittier,  17.  Dezember  1807  bis  7.  September  1892, 
der  Sohn  eines  armen  Farmers,  besuchte  erst  in  seinem  2osten 
Jahre  die  Howerhill  Academy.144  Er  war  1828-1829  Redakteur 
des  Free  Manufacturer,  von  1830  an  der  Essex  Gazette;  1836 
wurde  er  Sekretar  der  Anti-Slavery  Society,  und  redigierte  1838- 
1839  deren  Organ,  The  Pennsylvania  Freeman.  Er  tragt  den 
Namen  des  Ouakerdichters  und  erfreut  sich  bei  semen  Lands- 
leuten  grosser  Werthschatzung.  Die  nachfolgende  ungedruckte 
Ubersetzung,  die  vor  vielen  Jahren  gemacht  ist,  wurde  mir  aus  dem 
Original  von  Herrn  William  A.  Speck  in  Haverstraw,  New  York, 
mitgeteilt. 

LUDWIG  GEIGER." 
THE  ERL-KING. 

(Goethe.) 

i. 

Who  rides  so  late  through  the  night-wind  wild? 
It  is  a  father  with  his  child 
He  has  him  well  in  his  circling  arm ; 
He  holds  him  safe,  he  holds  him  warm. 

2. 

"My  son!  why  hid'st  thou  thy  face  in  fear?" 
"See'st  thou  not  father,  the  Ed-King  near? 
The  Erl-King  is  here  with  crown  and  train." 
"My  son!  'tis  a  fog-wreath  on  the  plain." 

3- 

"My  dearest  child  come  go  with  me, 
Many  fine  games  I'll  play  with  thee, 


Goethe  Jahrbuch,  Bd.  XXV,  S.  233. 
Haverhill  Academy. 


88          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Many-hued  flowers  on  the  strand  unfold, 
And  my  mother  has  many  fine  robes  of  gold." 

4- 

"My  father!  my  father!  dost  thou  not  hear 
What  the  Erl-King  promises  low  in  my  ear?" 
"Be  quiet,  rest  quiet  my  child"  he  said 
"  'Tis  the  wind  that  sounds  in  the  leaves  so  dead." 

5- 

"Thou  beautiful  child,  wilt  thou  go  with  me? 
My  fair  young  daughters  shall  wait  on  thee, 
My  daughters  nightly  their  sport  shall  bring 
And  rock  thee  softly  and  dance  and  sing." 

6. 

"My  father !  my  father !  dost  thou  not  trace 
The  Ed-King's  daughters  in  yon  drear  place  ?" 
"My  son,  my  son !  I  see  it  there — 
'Tis  the  shade  of  the  willow  so  old  and  bare." 

7- 

"I  love  thee — thy  fair  face  charms  me  so, 
If  thou  art  not  willing  by  force  thou  must  go." 
"My  father,  my  father!  I  feel  his  arm, 
The  Erl-King  has  done  me  a  grievous  harm." 

8. 

The  father  shudders ;  he  rides  on  wild ! 
He  holds  in  his  arms  the  moaning  child, 
He  reaches  his  home  with  trouble  and  dread, 
But  the  child  he  holds  in  his  arms  is  dead ! 

Whittier's  original  manuscript  of  the  Erl-King  with  an 
English  translation  by  another  hand,  A.  Geoghegan.  and  a  clip 
ping,  giving  Goethe's  first  suggestion  for  its  writing,  was  sold 
February  6,  1903,  at  an  auction  sale  of  Whittier  manuscripts  by 
John  Anderson,  Jr.,  Auctioneers  of  Literary  Property,  New 
York,  and  was  purchased  by  Mr.  William  A.  Speck,  Curator  of 
the  Collection  in  Modern  German  Literature,  Yale  University. 
With  his  permission,  I  publish  the  translation  by  Geoghegan : 


Whittles s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          89 

THE  ERLKING. 

(Translated  by  A.  Geoghegan.) 
i. 

Who  rides  at  this  hour  in  night  so  wild  ? 
It  is  the  father  with  his  dear  child, 
He  has  the  boy  firm  clasped  in  his  arm, 
He  holds  him  closely  to  keep  him  warm. 

2. 

"My  son,  why  bury  thy  face  as  in  fear?" 
"See,  father,  see  the  Erlking  draws  near ! 
The  Erlking  crowned,  with  elf  and  sprite !" 
"My  son,  'tis  but  the  mist  of  night!" 

3- 

Come,  darling  child,  come,  go  with  me, 
And  pleasant  games  I'll  play  with  thee, 
Sweet  flowers  blow  in  my  garden  fair, 
And  my  mother  has  garments  radiant  and  rare. 

4- 

"O  father,  my  father,  and  can'st  thou  not  hear 
The  words  the  Erlking  speaks  low  in  mine  ear?" 
"Be  still,  be  still:  rest  peaceful,  my  son, 
In  withered  leaves  the  night-wind  makes  moan." 

5- 

Wilt  go,  sweet  boy,  wilt  go  with  me? 
My  daughters  shall  thy  fair  nurses  be, 
They  shall  every  night  merry  festival  keep, 
And  rock  thee  with  dancing  and  singing  to  sleep. 

6. 

"O  father,  my  father,  and  see'st  thou  not  there 
Erlking's  dark  daughters  sweep  fierce  in  the  air?" 
"My  son,  my  son,  quite  plainly  I  see, 
'Tis  nought  but  the  boughs  of  yon  willow  tree." 

7- 

I  love  thee,  I  long  for  that  fair  form  of  thine, 
Shrink  not  from  me  now,  for  by  force  thou  art  mine. 
"O  father,  my  father,  he  tears  me  from  thee, 
Some  deadly  harm  he  hath  done  to  me." 


90          Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

8. 

The  father  shudders,  he  spurs  the  steed  on, 
And  close  to  his  bosom  he  presses  his  son, 
He  gains  his  home,  all  trembling  with  dread, 
But  in  his  strong  arms  the  child  was  dead. 

Whittier's  version  is  by  far  superior  to  Geoghegan's.  In  the 
first  stanza,  though  Whittier  has  improved  it  by  his  better  choice 
in  some  of  the  words,  and  in  smoothness  of  rhyme,  he  preserves 
the  same  end-rhymes  as  his  model ;  and  this  is  true  also  of  the  first 
two  verses  of  the  second,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  stanzas;  but  in 
the  last  two  verses  of  each  of  these  stanzas  he  employs  a  different 
rhyme.  In  the  sixth  and  seventh  stanzas,  he  employs  throughout 
different  rhymes.  The  last  two  verses  of  the  sixth  seem  to  me 
smoother  and  the  choice  of  words  better  in  the  model,  while  in  the 
seventh,  Whittier  has  greatly  improved  on  the  model.  In  the 
eighth,  the  last  two  verses  closely  resemble  those  of  Geoghegan. 
Whittier  probably  knew  Walter  Scott's  translation  and  he  may 
have  known  Lewis',  but  does  not  seem  to  have  been  influenced 
by  them. 

Whittier  expresses  his  appreciation  of  the  beauty  in  Goethe's 
works  in  his  poem145  'To ",  1840. 

"Beauty  such  as  Goethe  pictures, 
Such  as  Shelly  dreamed  of,  shed 

Living  warmth  and  starry  brightness 
Round  that  poor  man's  head." 

In  The  Middlesex  Standard  for  December  19,  .1844,  °f 
which  Whittier  was  editor,  appeared  The  Treasure  Seeker,  a 
translation  of  Goethe's  Der  Schatzgraber,  copied  from  the  poems 
and  ballads  of  Goethe,  in  Blackivood's.14* 

In  the  literary  notices  in  The  National  Era  for  July  14,  1853, 
in  a  review,  by  J.  G.  W.,  of  Thalatta:  A  Book  for  the  Sea-side, 
Boston,  Reed,  Ticknor,  and  Fields,  he  refers  to  Goethe's  Fisher. 


145  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  172. 

148  This  translation  is  in  Blackivood's  Edinburgh  Magazine  for  October, 


1844,  pages  423-24- 


Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          91 

In  his  poem147  to  James  T.  Fields,  1858,  Whittier's  opinion 
of  Goethe  seems  to  agree  with  Mr.  Frank  Stearns'  statement : 

"Better  his  lot  whose  axe  is  swung 
In  Wartburg's  woods,  or  that  poor  girl's 

Who  by  the  Ilm  her  spindle  whirls 
And  sings  the  songs  that  Luther  sung, 

"Than  his  who,  old  and  cold,  and  vain 
At  Weimar  sat,  a  demigod, 

And  bowed  with  Jove's  imperial  nod 
His  votaries  in  and  out  again!" 

He  quotes  from  Goethe's  Wilhelm  Meister  in  the  following 
from  John  Woolmaris  Journal,  1871  : 

"Some  idea  of  the  lively  interest  which  the  fine  literary 
circle  gathered  around  the  hearth  of  Lamb  felt  in  the  beautiful 
simplicity  of  Woolman's  pages  may  be  had  from  the  diary  of 
Henry  Crabb  Robinson,  one  of  their  number,  himself  a  man 
of  wide  and  varied  culture,  the  intimate  friend  of  Goethe, 
Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge.  In  his  notes  for  the  first  month, 
1824,  he  says,  after  a  reference  to  a  sermon  of  his  friend  Irving, 
which  he  feared  would  deter  rather  than  promote  belief:  "How 
different  this  from  John  Woolman's  Journal  I  have  been  reading 
at  the  same  time!  A  perfect  gem!  His  is  a  schdne  Seele,  a 
beautiful  soul."148 

In  1873,  in  the  introduction  to  Child  Life  in  Prose,  Whit- 
tier  refers  again  to  Goethe's  Wilhelm  Meister1™  and  speaks  with 
appreciation  of  the  sweetness  of  the  "child-figure,  Mignon". 

WHITTIER  AND  ROMANTICISM. 

The  Romantic  school,  as  applied  to  a  movement  in  German 
literature,  was  a  revolt  against  methods  and  traditions  which 
claimed  authority  as  classical.  Classicism  was  an  appeal  to  the 
intellect,  romanticism  to  the  imagination,  and  a  return  to  the 


147  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  198. 

148  Riverside  Edition  of  Prose  Works,  page  317,  Vol.  III. 

149  The  reference  is  quoted  later  under  the  chapter  on  Child  Life. 


92  Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

romantic  past.  In  the  dawning  days  of  the  nineteenth  century 
German  influence  was  potent  beyond  all  others.  In  France  the 
movement  was  represented  by  such  men  as  Victor  Hugo  and 
Lamartine,  and  in  England  by  Scott,  Byron,  Tennyson  and  a 
host  of  others.  The  movement  spread  to  New  England  and 
declared  itself  in  Whittier  and  Longfellow  and  Lowell,  in  Haw 
thorne  and  Emerson  and  others.  Whittier's  part  in  the  move 
ment  was  important,  as  he  goes  at  his  work  directly.  He  is  at 
his  best  in  writing  the  legendary  past  of  New  England.  Atten 
tion  has  already  been  called  to  the  influence  of  Lord  Byron  on 
his  works  in  the  years  1829-33.  We  have  just  read  in  the  last 
chapter,  of  his  interest  in  the  German  and  French  legends  in  con 
nection  with  the  devil,  and  in  a  later  chapter,  we  will  see  that  he 
made  use  of  other  German  legends  for  some  of  his  poems. 

His  early  romanticism  may  be  illustrated  in  a  poem  not 
included  in  his  works,  which  appeared  in  The  New  England 
Revievv,  July  25,  1831,  The  Demon's  Cave,  with  the  following 
note:  "In  the  town  of  Chester,  N.  H.,  is  a  singular  cavern  known 
by  the  name  of  The  Devil's  Den.  Its  entrance  is  on  the  southern 
side  of  a  rugged  hill.  It  winds  into  the  hill  to  a  considerable 
distance,  and  contains  several  large  rooms  or  chambers.  The 
early  settlers  of  the  place  supposed  it  to  be  the  residence  of  the 
Arch  Enemy."  The  poem  contains  six  stanzas.  The  last  reads 
as  follows: 

"And  yet  there  is  something  to  romance  dear, 

In  this  shadowy  cave  and  its  lingering  fear, 
Something  which  tells  of  another  age — 

Of  the  wizard's  wand,  and  the  Sibyl's  page — 
Of  the  fairy  ring,  and  the  haunted  glen — 

Of  the  restless  phantoms  of  murdered  men — 
Of  the  feasts  and  visions  of  dreamy  youth 

Ere  they  passed  away  at  the  glance  of  truth ; — 
And  I  love  even  now  to  list  the  tale 

Of  the  Demon's  Cave  and  its  haunted  vale !" 

J.  G.  W. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Tracy,  a  resident  of  Newburyport  and  a 
friend  of  Whittier's,  was  a  student  and  translator  of  Ger- 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          93 

man  literature  and  through  him  some  of  the  writers  of  the 
German  Romantic  school  were  opened  up  to  Whittier.  He  speaks 
in  his  article  on  Patucket  Falls150  of  Tracy's  translation  of 
Undine: 

"My  friend  T.,151  favorably  known  as  the  translator  of 
Undine  and  as  a  writer  of  fine  and  delicate  imagination,  visited 
Spicket  Falls  before  the  sound  of  a  hammer  or  the  click  of  a 
trowel  had  been  heard  beside  them.  His  journal  of  'A  Day  on  the 
Merrimac'  gives  a  pleasing  and  vivid  description  of  their  original 
appearance  as  viewed  through  the  telescope  of  a  poetic  fancy. 
The  readers  of  Undine  will  thank  me  for  a  passage  or  two  from 
this  sketch." 

In  the  article  on  My  Summer  With  Dr.  Singletary152  he 
speaks  again  of  Undine : 

"Just  back  of  the  village,  a  bright,  noisy  stream,  gushing  out, 
like  a  merry  laugh,  from  the  walnut  and  oak  woods  which 
stretched  far  back  to  the  north  through  a  narrow  break  in  the 
hills,  turned  the  great  wheel  of  a  grist-mill,  and  went  frolicking 
away,  like  a  wicked  Undine,  under  the  very  windows  of  the 
brown,  lilac-shaded  house  of  Deacon  Warner,  the  miller,  as  if 
to  tempt  the  good  man's  handsome  daughters  to  take  lessons  in 
dancing." 

And  again  in  "To  -  j^ios  ]^{nes  Written  from  a 

Summer  Day's  Excursion: 

"Varied  as  varying  Nature's  ways, 
Sprites  of  the  river,  woodland  fays, 

Or  mountain  nymphs,  ye  seem, 
Free  limbed  Dianas  on  the  green, 
Loch  Katrine's  Ellen,  or  Undine, 
Upon  your  favorite  stream." 


150  Vol.  I  of  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  366. 

151  Undine  and  Sintram  and  His  Companions,  from  the  German  of  Fouque 
by  Rev.  Thomas  Tracy,  in  Wiley  and  Putnam's  "Library  of  Choice  Reading", 
No.  III. 

152  Vol.  I  of  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  204. 
158  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  188. 


94          Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

And  in  Our  River:15- 

"We  only  know  the  fond  skies  lean 

Above  it  warm  with  blessing, 
And  the  sweet  soul  of  our  Undine 
Awakes  to  its  caressing." 

Also  in  At  School-Close:^ 

"The  joy  of  Undine  soul  possessed, 

The  wakening  sense,  the  strange  delight 
That  swelled  the  fabled  statues  breast 
And  filled  its  clouded  eyes  with  sight." 

And  in  The  Seeking  of  the  Waterfall:1™ 

"Somewhere  it  laughed  and  sang,  somewhere 

Whirled  in  mad  dance  its  misty  hair, 
But  who  had  raised  its  veil,  or  seen 
The  rainbow  skirts  of  that  Undine?" 

That  Whittier  was  familiar  with  other  works  of  Fouque 
besides  Undine  is  shown  in  the  following  passage  in  the  article 
The  Agency  of  Evil:™1 

"There  is  a  beautiful  moral  in  one  of  Fouque's  miniature 
romances, — Die  KohlerfaniUie.  The  fierce  spectre,  which  rose 
giant-like  in  its  blood  red  mantle,  before  the  selfish  and  mer 
cenary  merchant,  ever  increasing  in  size  and  terror  with  the 
growth  of  evil  and  impure  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  latter, 
subdued  by  prayer,  and  penitence,  and  patient  watchfulness  over 
the  heart's  purity,  became  a  loving  and  gentle  visitation  of  soft 
light  and  meekest  melody;  'a  beautiful  radiance,  at  times  hover 
ing  and  flowing  on  before  the  traveller,  illuminating  the  bushes 
and  foliage  of  the  mountain-forest;  a  lustre  strange  and  lovely, 
such  as  the  soul  may  conceive,  but  no  words  express.  He  felt 
its  power  in  the  depths  of  his  being, — felt  it  like  the  mystic  breath 
ing  of  the  spirit  of  God'." 


164  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  224. 

m  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  235. 

1M  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  162. 

167  Whittier's  Prose  Works,  Vol.  Ill,  Riverside  Edition,  page  263. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          95 

He  speaks  of  Novalis  in  the  article  on   William  Leggett: 
"Holding,  with  Novalis,  that  the  Christian  religion  is  the 
root  of  all  democracy  and  the  highest  fact  in  the  rights  of  man, 
we  regard    the    New    Testament    as    the    true    political    text 
book,  etc."158 

And    of    Rahel    Varnhagen    von    Ense    in    his   poem    "To 


".159 


"Or  the  blue-eyed  German  Rahel 
Half -unconscious  taught." 

The  influence  of  Heine's  Lorelei  is  shown  in  Whittier's 
verses  from  The  Witch  of  Wenham:160 

"She  weaves  her  golden  hair,  she  sings 
Her  spell-song  low  and  faint." 

FURTHER  TRANSLATION. 

Besides  the  Erlking,  about  1840,  Whittier  wrote  a  para 
phrase  of  Spitta's  Geduld,  1847.  Another  translation,  which 
was  published  wrongly  in  two  periodicals  under  the  title  of  Lines 
from  the  German  Lamiter,  was  in  reality  a  translation  from  the 
French  of  Lamartine. 

LINES  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF  LAMITER. 
This  translation  appeared  in  The  Independent  for  September, 
1901  (Vol.  53,  p.  2079),  with  the  following  note  by  S.  T.  Pickard  : 
"There  are  hundreds  of  Whittier's  early  poems  which  were  never 
placed  by  him  in  any  collection  of  his  works.  They  are  to  be 
found  in  the  papers  he  edited,  and  to  which  he  contributed  in 
the  days  before  he  consecrated  all  his  powers  to  humanitarian 
work.  They  gave  him  a  measure  of  literary  reputation  which 
must  have  gratified  him  at  the  time,  but  when  he  was  baptized 
into  the  new  spirit  which  formed  all  his  later  work,  he  took  pains 
to  prevent  the  collection  of  the  verses  written  in  the  vein  of  an 
outgrown  ambition.  His  wish  in  this  matter  should  be  respected. 


158  In  Vol.  II,  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  185. 

159  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  172. 

160  Poetical  Works,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  117. 


96          Whittled s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

And  yet,  while  studying  his  early  work,  I  find  some  poems  which 
I  fancy  he  would  have  preserved,  if  they  had  not  been  overlooked 
when  making  his  selections.  Among  these  is  the  paraphrase  from 
the  German,  which  I  find  in  The  Liberator  of  August  10,  1838." 
Then  follows  the  poem : 

(Lines  from  the  German  of  Lamiter  by  /.  G.  W.) 

"Thought  after  thought  ye  thronging  rise, 

Like  spring  doves  from  the  startled  wood, 
Bearing  like  them  your  sacrifice 

Of  music  unto  God ! 
And  shall  these  thoughts  of  joy  and  love 

Come  back  again  no  more  to  me — 
Returning  like  the  patriarch's  dove 

Wing-weary  from  the  eternal  sea — 
To  bear  within  my  longing  arms 

The  promised  bough  of  kindlier  skies, 
Plucked  from  the  green  immortal  palms 

Which  shade  the  bowers  of  Paradise? 

Child  of  the  sea,  the  mountain  stream 

From  its  dark  cavern  hurries  on, 
Ceaseless  by  night  and  morning's  beam, 

By  evening's  star  and  noontide's  sun — 
Until  at  last  it  sinks  to  rest 

O'erwearied  in  the  waiting  sea, 
And  moans  upon  its  mother's  breast 

So  turns  my  soul  to  the£." 

There  is  no  German  writer  with  the  name  of  Lamiter  and, 
as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  these  verses  are  a  translation 
from  the  French  of  Lamartine. 

The  Liberator  made  the  mistake  of  publishing  "German  of 
Lamiter"  for  French  of  Lamartine  and  Mr.  Pickard  copied  it 
as  he  found  it  in  The  Liberator.  How  The  Liberator  could  have 
made  the  mistake  at  the  time  seems  very  odd  indeed,  as  the 
poem  in  which  the  lines  occur :  Hymn,  translated  from  the  French 
of  Lamartine,  by  John  G.  Whittier,  appeared  the  year  before, 
i837,162  on  its  pages  in  the  number  of  August  i8th. 


162  The  translation,  The  Cry  of  My  Soul,  appeared  the  year  before  in  the 
Essex  Gazette,  July  30,  1836. 


Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          97 

In  Whittier's  collected  works  are  the  translations  of  two  odes 
from  Lamartine  ;163  Encore  un  hymne164  and  Le  cri  de  L'ame, 
under  the  title,  Hymns  from  the  French  of  Lamartine. 

If  we  compare  the  above  verses  with  these,  we  will  find  that 
they  are  the  same  as  his  translations  of  "Encore  un  Hymne", 
beginning  with  the  middle  of  the  fifth  stanza  to  the  end  of  the 
sixth  verse.  The  only  difference  being  that  in  the  Liberator  for 
August  18,  1837,  the  last  verse  of  the  sixth  stanza  reads: 

"Which  shadow  Paradise"165 

while  in  August  10,  1838,  it  is  printed — 

"Which  shade  the  bowers  of  Paradise." 

Then  one  verse  is  omitted  and  the  eighth  stanza  is  given  ex 
actly  the  same  as  that  of  August  18,  1837,  which  is  exactly  like 
the  eighth  verse  in  Whittier's  Collected  Poems. 

THE  ANGEL  OF  PATIENCE. 

Whittier  published  A  Free  Paraphrase  of  the  German  in 
The  National  Era,  May  13,  1847. 

Among  the  unpublished  letters  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  is  the 
following  letter166  to  Whittier  from  James  Mearns,  Curate  of 
Owston,  Owston  Ferry,  Rotherham,  Eng.,  February  18,  1883 : 

"The  work  of  tracing  out  translations  from  German  hymns 
into  English,  for  behoof  of  the  Dictionary  of  Hymnology,167 
now  in  preparation  for  publication  by  Mr.  John  Murray,  of  Lon 
don,  has  been  assigned  to  me.  A  little  poem  of  yours : 

'To  weary  hearts,  to  mourning  homes' 

appears  in  a  number  of  English  and  American  collections. 
.  .  .  In  my  copy  of  your  'Complete  Poetical  Works',  2d 

163  Cambridge  Edition,  pages  420-421. 

164  The  ode  Encore  Un  Hymne  may  be  found  in  Harmonies  Poetiques  et 
Religieuses,  by  De  Lamartine,  published  by  Hachette  et  Cie,  Paris,  1911,  page 
205,  and  Le  Cri  de  L'Ame,  page  227. 

165  This  is  also  the  reading  in  the  collected  works. 

166  Original  letter  in  possession  of  S.  T.  Pickard,  Amesbury,  Mass. 

167  Dictionary  of  Hymnology,  published   by  John   Murray,   London,   1907. 


98          Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Ed.,  London:  Macmillan  &  Co.,  1874,  I  find  it  page  121  among 
miscellaneous  poems  earlier  than  1850,  and  marked  'A  free  para 
phrase  from  the  German'. 

"I  have  not  found  anything  so  much  resembling  it  as  a  hymn 
by  C.  J.  P.  Spitta  in  his  Psalter  und  Harfe,  1883,  the  first  stanza 
of  which  runs  (five  stanzas  in  all) : 

"Es  zieht  ein  stiller  Engel 

Durch  dieses  Erdenland, 
Zum  Trost  fur  Erdenmangel 

Hat  ihn  der  Herr  gesandt. 
In  seinem  Blick  ist  Frieden 

Und  milde,  sanfte  Huld, 
O  folg'  ihm  stets  hienieden 

Dem  Engel  der  Geduld!" 

In  Murray's  Dictionary  of  Hymnology,1*8  we  find  the  follow 
ing:  "'Es  zieht  ein  stiller  Engel',  C.  J.  P.  Spitta.  In  the  first 
series,  1833,  of  his  Psalter  und  Harfe  (p.  116)  in  five  stanzas  of 
eight  lines,  entitled  Patience.  This  beautiful  little  poem  appears 
in  many  recent  collections  of  German  sacred  poetry,  etc." 

"The  only  translation  in  common  use  is :  To  weary  hearts,  to 
mourning  homes,  by  J.  G.  Whittier,  in  four  stanzas  of  six  lines  : 

"Mr.  Whittier  informs  us  that  it  was  written  in  1845  and 
first  published  in  his  poems,  Boston,  U.  S.,  1849,  Page  2O2  m  ms 
Poetical  Works,  London:  MacMillan  &  Co.,  1847,  Page  I21 J  it  is 
correctly  described  as  'A  free  Paraphrase  from  the  German'.  It 
has  been  included  in  The  South  Place  Collection,  1873,  Dr. 
Martineau's  Hymns  of  Praise  and  Prayer,  1873,  and  Horder's 
Congregational  Hymnal,  1 884 ;  and  in  America,  omitting  stanza 
II  in  Hedge  and  Huntingons  Collections,  1853,  Plymouth  Col 
lections,  1855,  and  Baptist  Praise  Book,  1871." 

Whittier's  poem  follows  Spitta's  very  closely  in  thought,  and 
many  of  the  single  verses  are  almost  exact  translations.  Spitta's 


Rev.  James  Mearns,  M.  A.,  Vicar  of  Rushden,   Buntingford,  was  assistant 
editor. 

168  A  Dictionary  of  Hymnology,  edited  by  John  Julian,  D.  D.    Revised  edi 
tion  published  by  John  Murray,  London,  1907,  page  355. 


Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought          99 

poem  is  entitled  Gcduld  and  Whittier's  The  Angel  of  Patience. 
The  form  and  metre  of  the  two  hymns  is  different,  however.  There 
are  four  stanzas  in  Whittier's  poem  and  five  in  Spitta's.169  Whit- 
tier  has  but  six  verses  in  each  stanza,  while  Spitta  has  eight. 

The  first  two  and  last  two  verses  of  the  first  stanza  of  Whit 
tier's  poem  resemble  very  closely  the  first  four  verses  of  Spitta's 
quoted  above: 

"To  weary  hearts,  to  mourning  homes, 
God's  meekest  angel  gently  comes : 


And  yet  in  tenderest  love,  our  dear 

And  Heavenly  Father  sends  him  here."170 

The  first  two  verses  of  Whittier's  second  stanza  are  almost 
an  exact  translation  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  verses  of  Spitta's  first 
stanza : 

"In  seinem  Blick  ist  Frieden 

Und  milde,  sanfte  Huld." 

"There's  quiet  in  that  angel's  glance, 

There's  rest  in  his  still  countenance!" 

The  third  stanza  of  Whittier's  resembles  throughout  in 
thought  the  third  stanza  of  Spitta's  hymn : 

3.    "Er  macht  zu  linder  Wehmuth 

Den  herbsten  Seelenschmerz 
Und  taugt  in  stille  Demuth 

Das  ungestiime  Herz, 
Er  macht  die  finstre  Stunde 

Allmahlich  wieder  hell, 
Er  heilet  jede  Wunde 

Gewiss,  wenn  atich  nicht  schnell." 

Whittier's  third  stanza  reads  : 

3.    "Angel  of  Patience!  sent  to  calm 

Our  feverish  brows  with  cooling  palm; 


169  This  may  be  found  in  C.  J.  P.  Spitta;  Psalter  und  Harfe,  J.  Kohler, 
Philadelphia,  1888,  S.  116. 

170  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  425. 


ioo        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

To  lay  the  storms  of  hope  and  fear, 
And  reconcile  life's  smile  and  tear ; 
The  throbs  of  wounded  pride  to  still, 
And  make  our  own  our  Father's  will !" 

The  last  four  verses  of  Whittier's  second  stanza  contain  the 
thought  and  are  an  exact  translation  of  parts  of  Spitta's  fourth 

stanza : 

4.    "Er  ziirnt  nicht  deinen  Thranen 
Wenn  er  dich  trosten  will, 
Er  tadelt  nicht  dein  Sehnen, 

Nur  macht's  fromm  und  still. 
Und  wenn  im  Sturmestoben 

Du  murrend  f ragst :  warum  ? 
So  deutet  er  nach  oben, 

Mild  lachelnd,  aber  stumm." 

"He  mocks  no  grief  with  idle  cheer, 
Nor  wounds  with  words  the  mourner's  ear 
But  ills  and  woes  he  may  not  cure 
He  kindly  trains  us  to  endure." 

Whittier's  last  stanza  is  a  combination  in  thought  of  the  first 
part  of  Spitta's  fifth  stanza  and  the  last  part  of  the  second 
stanza. 

The  first  four  verses  of  Spitta's  fifth  stanza  are : 

"Er  hat  fur  jede  Frage 
Nicht  Antwort  gleich  bereit, 
Sein  Wahlspruch  heisst :  ertragen, 
Die  Ruhestatt  ist  nicht  weit !" 

The  last  four  verses  of  the  second  stanza: 

"Denn  willst  du  ganz  verzagen, 
Hat  er  doch  guten  Muth; 
Er  hilft  das  Kreuz  dir  tragen, 
Und  macht  noch  alles  gut." 

Whittier's  last  stanza  reads : 

"O  thou  who  mournest  on  thy  way, 
With  longings  for  the  close  of  day ; 
He  walks  with  thee,  that  Angel  kind, 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        101 

And  gently  whispers,  'Be  resigned : 

Bear  up,  bear  on,  the  end  shall  tell 

The  dear  Lord  ordereth  all  things  well !'  ' 

To  RONGE. 

Among  the  unpublished  letters171  to  Whittier,  is  one  to  the 
poet  from  his  cousin  Ann  E.  Wendell,  of  Philadelphia,  I2th  mo., 
24,  1846,  written  a  few  months  before  Whittier's  poem  To  Ronge 
appeared.  She  speaks  of  a  visit  to  her  house  of  Benjamin 
Sebohm,  of  England,  a  native  of  Germany,  and  says: 

"I  inquired  his  opinion  of  Ronge  and  found  it  very  unfavor 
able  to  him  as  a  religious  character,  but  that  many  of  his  fol 
lowers  were  very  conscientious  dissenters  from  the  Catholic 
Church;  he  says  he  is  pastor  of  over  10,000  persons  at  Breslau. 
Czersky,172  he  spoke  much  more  favorably  of,  thought  him  an 
experimental  Christian ;  he  had  hoped  the  same  of  Ronge  until  he 
saw  confessions  of  faith  by  which  he  was  convinced  that  the 
omissions  were  not  occasioned  by  ignorance,  but  by  a  disbelief  in 
the  truths  he  omitted ;  he  has  recently  been  in  Germany  and  con 
versed  with  some  of  the  followers  of  Ronge.  I  wish  thee  could 
have  conversed  with  him  about  these  things.  Thou  could  have 
drawrn  forth  so  much  more  than  I  could." 

Whittier's  poem173  appeared  in  The  Democratic  Review  for 
March,  1846.  The  following  head-note  explains  its  origin: 

"This  was  written  after  reading  the  powerful  and  manly 
protest  of  Johannes  Ronge174  against  the  'pious  fraud'  of  the 
Bishop  of  Treves.  The  bold  movement  of  the  young  Catholic  priest 

171  Letter  in  possession  of  Mr.  Pickard,  Amesbury,  Mass. 

172  A  few  months  before  the  congregation  of  German  Catholics  had  been 
formed  by  Ronge  in  Breslau,  a  similar  movement  had  been  organized  Octo 
ber,  1844,  at  Schneidemiihle,  under  the  leadership  of  their  Vicar,  Joh.  Czerski. 
These  dissenters  from  the  Catholic  Church  called  themselves  Christian  Cath 
olics.     Czerski  attended  the  sessions  of  the  German  Catholics  at  Leipzig,  but 
when  the   formulas  of  the   faith  were   drawn   up   similar   to   what   had   been 
made  at  Breslau,  he  refused  to  sign  because  the  Divinity  of  Christ  had  been 
ignored. 

173  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  179.    The  note  is  not  in 
the  Democratic  Review. 

174  In  the  Sachsische   Vaterlandsblatter  for  October   15,   1844,  he  made  a 
vigorous  attack  upon  the  Bishop  Arnoldi  of  Trier,   for  having  ordered  the 
exposition  of  the  holy  coat  of  Trier,  said  to  be  the  seamless  robe  of  Christ. 
Numberless   pilgrims   made  journeys  to   the   Cathedral   in   Trier  to   get  the 


IO2        W hit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

of  Prussian  Silesia  seemed  to  me  full  of  promise  to  the  cause  of 
political  as  well  as  religious  liberty  in  Europe.  That  it  failed  was 
due  partly  to  the  faults  of  the  reformer,  but  mainly  to  the  dis 
agreement  of  the  Liberals  of  Germany  upon  a  matter  of  dogma, 
which  prevented  them  from  unity  of  action.  Ronge  was  born  in 
Silesia  in  1813  and  died  in  October,  1887.  His  autobiography 
was  translated  into  English  and  published  in  London  in  1846." 

Whittier's  earnestness  in  matters  of  reform  are  well  illus 
trated  in  this  poem: 

To  RONGE. 

"Strike  home,  strong-hearted  man !  Down  to  the  root 
Of  old  oppression  sink  the  Saxon  steel. 
Thy  work  is  to  hew  down.    In  God's  name  then 
Put  nerve  into  thy  task.   Let  other  men 
Plant,  as  they  may,  that  better  tree  whose  fruit 
The  wounded  bosom  of  the  Church  shall  heal. 
Be  thou  the  image-breaker.   Let  thy  blows 
Fall  heavy  as  the  Suabian's  iron  hand, 
On  crown  or  crosier,  which  shall  interpose 
Between  thee  and  the  weal  of  Fatherland. 
Leave  creeds  to  closet  idlers.   First  of  all, 
Shake  thou  all  German  dream-land  with  the  fall 
Of  that  accursed  tree,  whose  evil  trunk 
Was  spared  of  old  by  Erfurt's  stalwart  monk. 
#         *         *         *         # 

Be  warned  by  Luther's  error.   Nor  like  him 

When  the  roused  Teuton  dashes  from  his  limb 

The  rusted  chain  of  ages,  help  to  bind 

His  hands  for  wrhom  thou  claim'st  the  freedom  of  the  mind." 

ATTITUDE  OF  GERMANY  TO  SLAVERY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  following  article  by  Whittier  on  the  attitude  of  Ger 
many  to  slavery  in  the  United  States  appeared  in  The  National 
Era,  July  6,  1848,  with  the  title,  Our  Diplomacy-Trouble  Abroad: 

benefit  derived  from  this  holy  relic.  Rouge's  attack  on  the  Bishop  led  to  his 
excommunication.  This  brought  him  the  sympathy  of  many  people  who  were 
indignant  over  the  frauds  and  evil  practices  of  the  church.  Almost  immedi 
ately  a  new  sect  was  formed  under  his  leadership  at  Breslau,  December,  1844, 
bearing  the  name  of  German  Catholics.  Ronge  now  traveled  from  place  to 
place  preaching,  and  under  his  leadership  new  congregations  sprung  up  in 
all  parts  of  Germany.  The  movement,  however,  soon  received  checks  by  the 
government,  as  its  members  were  suspected  of  undermining  religion  and  of 
encouraging  revolution. 


Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        103 

"What  from  Germany,  fermenting  like  its  beer,  with  new 
republicanism?  A  society  of  abolition  propagandist!!,  composed 
of  learned  professors,  statesmen  and  divines,  just  established  for 
the  express  and  avowed  purpose  of  acting  upon  the  slave  system 
of  the  United  States,  through  the  German  emigrants,  who  are 
fast  filling  up  our  new  States  and  Territories.  Hear  its  pros 
pectus: 

'  'Convinced  of  the  necessity  of  using  our  utmost  efforts  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  as  the  most  dreadful  evil  ever  inflicted 
upon  man,  and  the  source  of  unutterable  misery  to  millions  of 
mankind ; 

'  'Persuaded  that  it  has  now  become  a  sacred  duty  for  the 
German  people  to  unite  with  other  nations  in  endeavoring  to 
exterminate  the  high  treason  against  the  human  race ; 

"  'Impressed,  moreover  with  the  conviction  that  it  is  our 
duty  to  preserve  our  countrymen,  emigrating  to  countries  where 
slavery  exists,  from  its  foul  contamination, 

"  'And  having  been  repeatedly  called  upon  by  friends  in  the 
United  States  to  assist  in  opposing  the  system  of  slavery  which 
obtains  there — We  the  undersigned,  have  constituted  ourselves 
into  a  provisional  committee,  for  the  organization  of  a  German 
Society,  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  have  resolved  from  this 
time  forth  to  take  all  such  steps  as  may  be  necessary  for  accom 
plishing  the  desired  end.' 

"What  from  Austria  and  Hungary?  A  few  years  ago  we 
remember  seeing  in  the  papers,  a  letter  from  an  American  travel 
ling  in  Europe,  who,  writing  from  Vienna,  states  that  he  had 
a  pleasant  interview  with  Prince  Metternich,  and  that  when,  on 
being  asked  his  profession  or  employment  at  home,  he  answered 
that  he  was  a  planter  and  owned  a  large  number  of  slaves.  The 
Hungarian  nobles  in  attendance  congratulated  him  upon  it,  declar 
ing  that  they  too  were  slave-holders;  and  so  Absolutism  and 
Democracy  shook  hands  together.  Now,  Prince  Metternich  has 
fled,  and  the  Emperor  is  following  him;  and  amidst  shouts  of 
freedom  and  equality,  the  downfall  of  serfdom  is  decreed." 

J.  G.  W. 


IO4        Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

In  an  article  in  his  prose  works  called  The  Abolitionists,175 
he  refers  to  the  earlier  attitude  of  the  Germans  toward  slavery : 

"All  history,  ancient  and  modern,  is  full  of  warning  on  this 
point.  Need  I  refer  to  the  many  revolts  of  the  Roman  and 
Grecian  slaves,  the  bloody  insurrection  of  Etruria,  the  horrible 
servile  wars  of  Sicily  and  Capua?  Or,  to  come  down  to  later 
times,  to  France  in  the  fourteenth  century,  Germany  in  the  six 
teenth,  to  Malta  in  the  last?" 

WHITTIER  AND  THE  GERMAN  MYSTICS. 

Whittier  has  written  three  poems  on  the  German  mystics : 
T aider,  1853,  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  1872,  The  Hymn  of 
the  Dunk ers,  1877,  and  The  Vision  of  Echard,  1878.  His  interest 
in  the  mysticism  of  the  East  is  clearly  illustrated  in  his  poems  on 
Eastern  subjects,  and  in  many  of  his  letters  to  his  friends. 

Mysticism  appears  in  connection  with  the  human  mind  to 
grasp  the  divine  essence  or  the  ultimate  reality  of  things,  and  to 
enjoy  the  blessedness  of  actual  communion  with  the  highest.  The 
first  is  the  philosophic  and  theoretic  side  of  mysticism,  the  second 
the  religious  and  practical.  The  thought  that  is  most  intensely 
present  with  the  mystic,  is  that  of  supreme,  all-pervading,  and  in 
dwelling  power,  in  whom  all  things  are  one.  Hence  the  utterances 
of  mysticism  are  more  or  less  speculative  in  character.  On  the 
practical  side,  it  maintains  the  possibility  of  direct  intercourse  with 
God — not  through  any  external  media  such  as  historical  revela 
tion,  etc. — but  by  a  species  of  ecstatic  transfusion  or  identifica 
tion,  in  which  the  individual  becomes  in  very  truth  "partaker  of 
the  divine  Nature".  God  ceases  to  be  an  object  to  him  and 
becomes  an  experience.176 

Mysticism  is  not  a  name  applicable  to  any  particular  sys 
tem;  there  have  been  mystical  elements  in  various  forms  of 
religion  from  the  earliest  times.  The  German  mind  was  a  fruit 
ful  soil  for  mysticism,  and  its  doctrines  were  formulated  by  Eckart 
at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 

m  Riverside  Edition  of  Whittier's  Prose  Works,  Vol.  Ill,  page  71. 

1T*  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 


IVhittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        105 

centuries.  He  developed  the  philosophical  basis  for  German 
mysticism.  In  the  fourteenth  century  German  Mysticism  is  repre 
sented  by  such  men  as  Tauler,  Nicholas  of  Basle,  and  the  un 
known  person  who  wrote  the  Theologia  Germanica,177  a  trans 
lation  of  which  is  in  Whittier's  Library  in  Amesbury,  Mass. 

Whittier  speaks  in  the  highest  praise  of  this  book  in  Dora 
Greenwell: 

"The  unknown  author  of  that  book  which  Luther  loved  next 
to  his  Bible,  the  Theologia  Germanica,  is  just  as  truly  at  home 
in  this  present  age,  and  in  the  ultra  Protestanism  of  New  England ; 
as  in  the  heart  of  Catholic  Europe,  and  in  the  fourteenth  cen 
tury.  For  such  books  know  no  limitations  of  time  or  place;  they 
have  the  perpetual  freshness  and  fitness  of  truth ;  they  speak  out 
of  profound  experience :  heart  answers  to  heart  as  we  read  them ; 
the  spirit  that  is  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  that  giveth  under 
standing,  bear  witness  to  them.  The  bent  and  stress  of  their 
testimony  are  the  same,  whether  written  in  this  or  a  past  century, 
by  Catholic  or  Quaker:  self-renunciation, — reconcilement  to  the 
Divine  will  through  simple  faith  in  the  Divine  goodness,  and  the 
love  of  it  which  must  needs  follow  its  recognition,  the  life  of 
Christ  made  our  own  by  self-denial  and  sacrifice,  and  the  fellow 
ship  of  His  suffering  for  the  good  of  others,  the  indwelling  Spirit, 
leading  into  all  truth,  the  Divine  Word  nigh  us,  even  in  our 
hearts.  They  have  little  to  do  with  creeds,  or  schemes  of  doc 
trine,  or  the  partial  and  inadequate  plans  of  salvation  invented 
by  human  speculation  and  ascribed  to  Him  who,  it  is  sufficient  to 
know,  is  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost  all  who  trust  in  Him. 
They  insist  upon  simple  faith  and  holiness  of  life,  rather  than 
rituals  or  modes  of  worship;  they  leave  the  merely  formal,  cere 
monial,  and  temporal  part  of  religion  to  take  care  of  itself,  and 
earnestly  seek  for  the  substantial,  the  necessary,  and  the  per 
manent."178 

Tauler179  was  more  practical  in  his  teachings  than  Eckhart 
and  touched  on  all  sides  the  problems  of  spiritual  and  moral  life. 


377  This  treatise  was  discovered  and  published  by  Luther  in  1516. 

178  Vol.  Ill,  Riverside  Edition,  Prose  Works,  page  285. 

179  Robertson,  History  of  German  Literature,  page  167. 


io6        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

He,  too,  preached  the  complete  union  of  the  soul  with  God  but 
avoided  Eckhart's  pantheism. 

Like  all  true  mystics,  Tauler,180  insists  on  the  fact  of  an 
"Inner  Light — the  master  light  of  all  the  soul's  seeing."  He  says 
that  the  Friends  of  God  have  "an  inward,  divine  knowledge,  a 
Divine  Light  which  illuminates  them  and  raises  them  into  union 
with  God".  "This  light  gives  man  all  truth  (alle  Wahrheit) — 
a  \vonderful  discernment,  more  perfect  than  can  be  gained  in 
any  other  manner  here  below."  "The  vision  of  the  eternal  Light 
makes  their  souls  so  luminous  that  they  could  teach  all  men  if 
the  occasion  for  it  came."  "They  become  endowed  (by  this 
Divine  Light)  with  a  perfect  conscience  in  respect  to  what  they 
ought  to  do  and  what  to  leave  undone."  "The  Divine  illumina 
tion  gives  a  man  a  marvellous  discernment,  more  perfect  than 
he  is  able  to  acquire  on  earth  in  any  other  manner."  "In  one 
short  hour  you  can  learn  more  from  the  inward  voice  than  you 
could  learn  from  a  man  in  a  thousand  years." 

I  have  dwelt  especially  on  this  part  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
mystics  which  has  a  close  affinity  to  the  teachings  of  the  Friends — 
the  doctrine  of  guidance  by  the  Inner  Light  or  the  voice  within, 
and  the  belief  in  Divine  inspiration.  It  is  this  that  drew  Whit- 
tier,  who  all  his  life  remained  true  to  the  teachings  of  the  Friends, 
to  the  mystics  Eckhart  and  Tauler. 

Dr.  Rufus  M.  Jones,  of  Haverford  College,  himself  a 
Friend,  defines  "Quakerism"  as  follows:181  "The  Society  of 
Friends — a  religious  body  which  has  made  a  serious  attempt  to 
unite  inward,  mystical  religion  with  active  social  endeavors,  and 
to  maintain  a  religious  fellowship  with  a  rigid  ecclesiastical  sys 
tem,  and  with  large  scope  for  personal  initiative,  immediate  rev 
elation  and  individual  responsibility." 

In  an  article  on  Whittier  the  Mystic  in  The  American 
Friend,1*2  Dr.  Jones  says :  "I  am  using  the  term  'mystic'  to 
mean  one  who  has  a  direct  consciousness  of  relationship  with 


380  Rufus  M.  Jones,  Mystical  Religion,  page  276. 

181  Mystical  Religion,  by  R.  M.  Jones.     Introduction,  page  33. 

**  American  Friend,  12  mo.  12,  1907. 


Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        107 

God."  "Whittier  is  more  fundamentally  mystic  than  any  other 
American  poet.  His  mysticism  does  not  rest  on  sporadic  experi 
ence,  or  on  isolated  lines;  it  is  a  structural  part  of  his  way  of 
thinking,  and  it  is  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  his  poetry."  He 
quotes  from  a  letter  to  the  Friends'  Review,  2nd  mo.,  1870,  in 
which  Whittier  says:  "I  have  an jinshaken  faith  in  the  one  dis 
tinctive  doctrine  of  Quakerism — the  Light  within — the  Imman 
ence  of  the  Divine  Spirit."  'The  future  hope  of  our  religion 
lies  'not  in  setting  the  letter  above  the  spirit,  not  in  substituting 
type  and  symbol,  and  oriental  figure  and  hyperbole  for  the  simple 
truths  they  were  meant  to  represent;  not  in  schools  of  theology; 
not  in  much  speaking  and  noise  and  vehemence — but  in  heeding 
more  closely  the  Inward  Guide  and  Teacher,  in  faith  in  Christ; 
not  merely  in  the  historical  manifestation  of  the  Divine  Love  to 
humanity,  but  in  his  living  presence  in  the  heart  open  to  receive 
him.'"  " 

TAULER. 

Whittier  says  of  Tauler  in  Dora  Greenzvell:183  "Tauler  in 
medieval  times  and  Woolman184  in  the  last  century  are  among 
the  most  earnest  teachers  of  the  inward  life  and  spiritual  nature 
of  Christianity,  yet  both  were  distinguished  for  practical  benevo 
lence.  They  did  not  separate  the  two  great  commandments. 
Tauler  strove  with  equal  intensity  of  zeal  to  promote  the  tem 
poral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  men.  In  the  dark  and  evil  time 
in  which  he  lived,  amidst  the  untold  horrors  of  the  "Black 
Plague",  he  illustrated  by  deeds  of  charity  and  mercy  his  doctrine 
of  disinterested  benevolence." 

The  poem  on  Tauler  first  appeared  in  The  National  Era  for 
April  21,  1853. 

In  Whittier's  Library  is  a  book,  The  Lives,  Sentiments  and 
Sufferings  of  Some  of  the  Reformers  and  Martyrs,  by  William 
Hodgson,  Philadelphia,  1867,  which  contains  the  incident  in 
Tauler's  life,  related  in  the  poem.  As  Whittier's  poem  was  writ- 


183  Prose   Works  of  Whittier,  Vol.  Ill,  pages  301-302.    Riverside  Edition. 

184  John  Woolman — a  distinguished  minister  of  the  Society  of  Friends  and 
one  of  the  first  to  protest  against  slavery  in  the  United  States. 


io8        W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

ten  much  earlier,  he  could  not,  however,  have  made  use  of  this 
book. 

Whittier's  power  of  describing  vividly  things  that  he  had 
only  seen  through  the  eyes  of  his  friends  is  well  illustrated  in 
his  description  of  Strassburg  Cathedral  in  this  poem,  where  he 
says: 

"So  entering  with  a  changed  and  cheerful  step 
The  city  gates,  he  saw,  far  down  the  street, 
A  mighty  shadow  break  the  light  of  noon, 
Which  tracing  backward  till  its  airy  lines 
Hardened  to  stony  plinths,  he  raised  his  eyes 
O'er  broad  facade  and  lofty  pediment, 
O'er  architrave  and  freize  and  sainted  niche, 
Up  the  stone  lace-work  chiselled  by  the  wise 
Erwin  of  Steinbach,  dizzily  up  to  where 
In  the  noon-brightness  the  great  Minister's  tower, 
Jewelled  with  sunbeams  on  its  mural  crown, 
Rose  like  a  visible  prayer."185 

EC  HARD. 

Whittier's  cousin,  Mrs.  Abbey  J.  Woodman,186  writes  of  this 
poem:  "Mr.  Whittier  thought  diligently  upon  spiritual  subjects, 
and  was  fond  of  discussions  which  disclosed  the  views  of  others 
upon  themes  regarding  the  exercise  of  Faith  and  trustful  reliance 
upon  divine  Goodness, — a  term  which,  in  his  comprehension, 
embraces  the  Power  that  controls  the  Universe.  Such  matters 
were  the  fire-side  topics  of  conversation  for  many  winter  evenings 
previous  to  the  writing  and  publication  of  his  poem  entitled, 
The  Vision  of  Echard,  a  poem  very  dear  to  those  who  contem 
plated  with  its  author  each  point  of  that  far-reaching  and  signifi 
cant  'Vision/  " 

The  poem  appeared  in  the  September  number  of  The 
Atlantic  Monthly,  1878,  and  the  same  year  in  book  form;  The 
Vision  of  Echard  and  other  poems.  Boston:  Houghton,  Mifflin 
&Co. 


183  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poems,  page  45. 

186  Reminiscences  of  John  G.  Whittier's  Life  at  Oak  Knoll,  Danvers,  Mass., 
by  Mrs.  Abbey  J.  Woodman,  Salem,  Mass.,  1908,  page  21. 


Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought         109 

The  monk  sits  by  the  wayside  well  and  dreams : 

"He  felt  the  heart  of  silence 

Throb  with  a  soundless  word, 
And  by  the  inward  ear  alone 
A  spirit's  voice  he  heard. 

"And  the  spoken  word  seemed  written 

On  air  and  wave  and  sod, 
And  the  bending  walls  of  sapphire 
Blazed  with  the  thought  of  God:" 

***** 
The  voice  of  God  within  his  soul  speaks  to  him; 

"O  blind  ones,  outward  groping, 

The  idle  quest  forego, 
Who  listens  to  his  inward  voice. 
Alone  of  him  shall  know. 

"His  love  all  love  exceeding 

The  heart  must  needs  recall, 
Its  self-surrendering  freedom 
Its  loss  that  gaineth  all. 


"Have  ye  not  still  my  witness 

Within  yourself  alway, 
My  hand  that  on  the  keys  of  life 
For  bliss  or  bale  I  lay? 

"Still,  in  perpetual  judgment 

I  hold  assize  within, 
With  sure  reward  of  holiness, 
And  dread  rebuke  of  sin. 

"A  light,  a  guide,  a  warning, 

A  presence  ever  near, 
Through  the  deep  silence  of  the  flesh 
I  reach  the  inward  ear. 

"My  Gerizim  and  Ebal 

Are  in  each  human  soul, 
The  still,  small  voice  of  blessing, 
And  Sinai's  thunder  roll. 


io        Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"The  stern  behest  of  duty, 

The  doom-book  open  thrown, 
The  heaven  ye  seek,  the  hell  ye  fear, 
Are  with  yourselves  alone." 


'Then  up  rose  Master  Echard, 
And  marvelled:  'Can  it  be 

That  here,  in  dream  and  vision, 
The  Lord  hath  talked  with  me  ?' 


"He  sought  the  vale  of  Elzbach 
His  burdened  soul  to  free, 
Where  the  foot-hills  of  the  Eifel 
Are  glassed  in  Laachersee. 

"And,  in  his  Order's  kloster, 

He  sat,  in  night-long  parle, 
With  Tauler  of  the  Friends  of  God, 
And  Nicholas  of  Basle. 

"And  lo!  the  twain  made  answer: 

'Yea,  brother,  even  thus 
The  Voice  above  all  voices 
Hath  spoken  unto  us. 

"  'The  world  will  have  its  idols, 

And  flesh  and  sense  their  sign: 
But  the  blinded  eyes  shall  open, 
And  the  gross  ear  be  fine. 

"  'What  if  the  vision  tarry? 

God's  time  is  always  best, 
The  true  Light  shall  be  witnessed 
The  Christ  within  confessed. 

"  Tn  mercy  or  in  judgment 

He  shall  turn  and  overturn 
Till  the  heart  shall  be  his  temple 
Where  all  of  Him  shall  learn.'  ' 

In  the  chapter  on  The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  Whittier's  in 
terest  in  the  writings  of  Jacob  Boehme,  1575-1624,  the  father 
of  the  chief  development  of  mysticism  in  modern  Germany,  has 


it  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        in 

already  been  referred  to.  Boehme  professed  that  a  distinct  and 
inward  illumination  was  the  only  source  of  his  speculation,  but 
made  no  pretense  to  ecstatic  raptures. 

His  works  were  translated  into  English  and  were  known  to 
George  Fox  and  the  early  Quakers,  upon  whom  they  no  doubt 
had  great  influence.  Regular  societies  of  Boehmenists  were 
formed  in  England  and  Holland. 

In  Whittier's  poem,  The  Shoemakers,  he  says  of  the  shoe 
maker  mystic  of  Gorlitz: 

"Still  from  his  book,  a  mystic  seer, 
The  soul  of  Behmen  teaches." 

We  have  seen  also  Whittier's  references  in  The  Pennsylvania 
Pilgrim  to  Philipp  Jacob  Spener,  1635-1705,  the  chief  repre 
sentative  of  German  Pietism  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

Another  poem  of  Whittier's  on  mysticism,  is  The  Mystic's 
Christmas,  1882,  which  tells  the  story  of  a  pious  monk  who  sat 
apart  from  his  brothers  at  the  Christmas  festival  to  find  within 
himself  the  Christ  spirit  born: 

"I  listen,  from  no  mortal  tongue, 
To  hear  the  song  the  angels  sung ; 
And  wait  within  myself  to  know 
The  Christmas  lilies  bud  and  blow. 

"The  outward  symbols  disappear 
From  him  whose  inward  sight  is  clear, 
And  small  must  be  the  choice  of  days 
To  him  who  fills  them  all  with  praise ! 

"Keep  while  you  need  it,  brothers  mine, 
With  honest  zeal  your  Christmas  sign, 
But  judge  not  him  who  every  morn 
Feels  in  his  heart  the  Lord  Christ  born !" 

Whittier's  belief  in  guidance  by  the  "Inner  Light"  is  ex 
pressed  in  most  of  his  religious  poems. 

B.  O.  Flower  says  of  Whittier's  mysticism:  "Interesting  as 
is  the  New  England  poet  when  considered  as  the  inspired  poet 
of  freedom,  as  the  charming  lyric  poet  and  graphic  delineator 
of  New  England  life,  and  dear  as  he  is  to  us  as  the  simple 


H2        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

and  sincere  man,  it  is  as  the  true  mystic  or  inspired  teacher  of 
the  higher  life,  that  he  appeals  especially  to  the  large  and  rapidly 
increasing  number  of  persons  who,  along  various  lines  of  thought 
and  experience,  are  being  brought  today  into  what  is  essentially 
a  deeply  spiritual  attitude.  'The  voice  of  God  within'  or  'The 
Inner  Light'  is  becoming  a  far  greater  reality  to  the  conscience 
of  our  civilization  than  mammon  worshipping  and  easy  going 
conventionalists  imagine."187 

Flower  cites  The  Eternal  Goodness188  and  verses  from  In 
Quest.18* 

Rufus  Jones  in  the  article  mentioned  in  The  American 
Friend,  quotes  the  following  poems  as  illustrating  especially  the 
mysticism  of  our  Quaker  poets:  "My  Namesake,19**  To — with  a 
copy  from  John  Woolman's  Journal,1^  Trinitas,192  The  Shadow 
and  the  Light,193  Andrew  Rykmans  Prayer,™*  The  Meeting,™'* 
and  In  Quest/'196 

WHITTIER  AND  TRANSCENDENTALISM. 
Transcendentalism,  according  to  the  Kantian  philosophy,  is 
the  transcending  or  going  beyond  empiricism,  or  human  experi 
ence,  and  ascertaining  a  priori  the  fundamental  principles  of  hu 
man  knowledge.  Kant  insists  that  in  ultimate  matters  of  religion 
reason  is  not  sufficient.  Schelling  and  Hegel  claim  to  have  dis 
covered  the  absolute  identity  of  the  objective  and  subjective  in 
human  knowledge,  or  of  things  and  human  conceptions  of  them; 
therefore  with  them,  Transcendentalism  claims  to  have  a  true 
knowledge  of  all  things,  material  and  immaterial,  human  and 
divine,  as  far  as  the  mind  is  capable  of  knowing  them.  The 


187  Whittier,  Prophet,  Seer  and  Man,  by  B.  O.  Flower,  Boston,  1896,  page 
105. 

588  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  442. 

189  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  451. 

190  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  393. 

191  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  171. 

192  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  434. 

193  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  437. 
184  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  439. 
198  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  445. 
196  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  451. 


Whittled s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        113 

extreme  views  of  the  empiricists  trust  to  experience  alone ;  while 
the  extreme  Transcendentalists  lose  sight  of  the  relations,  which 
facts  and  phenomena  sustain  to  be  principles,  and  hence  lead  to  a 
kind  of  philosophy,  or  a  use  of  language,  which  is  vague,  obscure, 
fantastic,  or  extravagant.  The  most  famous  example  of  the 
pseudo-philosophic  use  of  the  term,  is  for  a  movement  of  thought, 
which  was  prominent  in  New  England  from  about  1830  to  1850. 
This  movement  has  several  aspects,  philosophical,  theological, 
social  and  economic.  It  took  its  rise  to  a  large  extent  in  the 
study  of  German  (and  to  a  less  extent  of  French)  philosophy  at 
a  time  when  German  philosophy  was  most  metaphysical  and 
German  literature  most  romantic.  "Before  Charming  died,  in 
1842,  you  could  find  in  Boston  few  educated  people  who  could 
not  talk  with  glib  delight  about  German  philosophy,  German 
literature,  and  German  music."197 

The  chief  organ  of  the  Transcendentalists  was  The  Dial  and 
its  moving  spirit,  the  editor,  Margaret  Fuller,  who  translated 
many  of  the  works  of  the  German  Transcendentalists  and  wrote 
articles  defending  them.  Her  favorite  German  author  was 
Goethe.  The  movement  was  the  American  Storm  and  Stress,  a 
revolution  against  conventionality,  a  movement  of  inquiry,  and 
assertion  of  the  worth  and  dignity  of  the  individual.  Individu 
ality,  self-reliance,  personal  development,  inspiration,  the  over- 
soul,  mind  the  only  reality ;  these  were  constant  expressions  used 
by  the  writers  of  the  movement.  "The  Transcendentalists  were 
too  far  from  orthodox  to  trouble  themselves  about  a  Christian 
God,  but  they  believed  in  the  Inner  Light  as  enthusiastically  as 
ever  Quakers  did,  and  they  followed  it  almost  as  ardently."198 

The  doctrines  of  Transcendentalism  and  Quakerism  are 
thus  compared  by  William  Sloane  Kennedy  :199 

"The  principles  of  the  sect  are  all  summed  up  in  the  phrases 
Freedom  and  the  Inner  Light.  Historically  considered,  Ouaker- 


197  Literary  History  of  America,  by  Barrett  Wendell,  New  York,  1911,  page 
296. 

1W  A  Literary  History  of  America,  by  Barrett  Wendell,  1911,  page  299. 

1W  William  Sloane  Kennedy,  John  G.  Whittier,  His  Life,  Genius  and  Writ 
ings,  Boston,  1892,  page  182. 


ii4        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

ism  is  a  product  of  the  ferment  that  followed  the  Civil  War  in 
England  two  centuries  ago.  Considered  abstractly,  or  as  a 
congeries  of  principles,  it  has  a  sociological  and  a  philosophical 
root,  both  of  these  running  back  into  the  great  tap-root,  love  of 
freedom.  .  .  .  Sociologically  speaking,  Quakerism  is  pure 
democracy^  an  exaltation  of  the  majesty  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  mass  of  the  people.  It  is  the  pin-e_prgcifdtat£.._.of  Chris 
tianity.  It  is  a  protest  against  the  hypocrisy,  formalism  and 
tyranny  of  priestcraft,  kingcraft  and  aristocracy.  Philosophi 
cally,  its  theory  of  the  Inner  Light  is  identical  with  the  doctrine 
of  idealism  or  innate  ideas  held  by  Descartes,  Fichte,  Schelling 
and  Cousin.  It  means  individualism,  a  return  to  the  primal 
sanities  of  the  soul.  In  the  words  of  Descartes,  'I  think,  there 
fore,  I  am'.  My  thinking  soul  is  the  ultimate  source  of  ideas 
and  truth.  In  that  serene  holy  of  holies  full-grown  ideas  leap 
into  being — subjective,  a  priori,  needing  no  sense  preception  for 
their  genesis. 

"But  Transcendentalism  differed  from  Quakerism  in  this : 
the  former  JiddJhjt^i^jnumination^Ll^  mind  \vas_a  natural 
process;  but  Quakerism  maintajn^thatkj£  JLJ^HBiny^ra^ 
process,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  herein  Quakerism  is 
inferior  to  Transcendentalism.  But  it  is  superior  to  it  in  that  it 
does  not  believe  in  the  infallibility  of  individual  institutions,  but 
considers  the  true  criterion  of  truth  to  be  the  universal  reason, 
the  consensus  of  the  competent." 

George  Willis  Cooke200  says  it  is  impossible  to  separate  the 
movement  of  Transcendentalism  from  the  names  of  Emerson, 
Lowell,  Thorean,  Whittier,  Whitman  and  a  large  company  of 
our  lesser  poets  and  prose  writers. 

However,  only  where  the  Friends'  belieX-a^rjees_with  that 
of  the  Transcendentalists,  i.  e.,  the  belief  in  guidance  by  the  Inner 
Light  and  the  emphasis  which  they  put  upon  faith, — so  far  is 
Whittier  a  Transcendentalist,  but  no  further.  Their  vague, 
metaphysical  conceptions  did  not  appeal  to  him  and  he  expresses 


200  The  Poets  of  Transcendentalism,  an  Anthology,  by  Geo.  Willis  Cooke, 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company,  1903.     Introduction. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        115 

his  views  most  energetically  on  the  subject,  in  an  editorial  in 
The  National  Era,  September  16,  1847,  on  The  Herald  of  Truth, 
published  at  Cincinnati,  L.  A.  Hine,  editor.  Whittier  praises  the 
paper  and  goes  on  to  say : 

"Of  the  philosophy  and  religious  views  of  The  Herald,  we 
can  only  say  that  we  have  not  been  able  so  fully  to  comprehend 
them,  as  to  be  qualified  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  them.  We  have 
occasionally  noted  a  degree  of  assumption  and  dogmatism,  which 
by  no  means  commends  itself  to  our  taste.  Some  of  its  writers, 
moreover,  deal  quite  too  freely  in  the  cant  of  Transcendental 
ism.201  Plain,  common,  old-fashioned  Saxon  words  furnish  the 
best  medium  of  thought.  The  apostle  never  gave  sounder  advice 
than  that  which  discouraged  among  his  disciples  the  use  of  'un 
known  tongues'.  He  tells  us,  indeed,  that  lie  that  speaketh  in 
an  unknown  tongue  edifieth  himself,  but  we  greatly  question 
whether  the  same  could  be  said  of  our  modern  philosophy,  while 
engaged  in  'airing  its  vocabulary'." 

Earlier  than  this,  in  a  letter  to  Edward  Everett,202  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  in  The  Liberator  of  February  20,  1836,  refer 
ring  to  Everett's  doctrines  on  anti-slavery,  he  says  of  German 
metaphysics : 

"If  sir,  in  the  Aulae  of  Gottingen — if  amidst  the  wild 
mysteries  of  German  metaphysics,  I  had  imbibed  doctrines  like 
these,  I  would  have  turned  my  back  forever  on  my  native  land." 

In  Whittier's  Stranger  in  Lowell?®*  occurs  this  reference  to 
Transcendental  philosophy : 

'That  comfortable  philosophy  which  modern  Transcenden 
talism  has  but  dimly  shadowed  forth— that  poetic  agrarianism, 
which  gives  all  to  each  and  each  to  all — is  the  real  life  of  this 
City  of  Unwork." 

In  a  review  of  Mirth  and  Medicine,  poems  by  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  (Boston:  Ticknor  &  Company),  in  The 
National  Era,  January  n,  1849,  Whittier  remarks: 


201  The  word  cant  was  written  in  italics. 

202  This   article   is   quoted    more    fully   under   Luther's    hymn,    "Ein    feste 
Burg,  etc.". 

203  The  Stranger  in  Lowell,  by  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  Boston,  1845,  page 
73- 


1 16        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"Witness  this  thrust  at  our  German-English  writers: 

'  'Essays  so  dark,  Champollion  might  despair 
To  guess  what  mummy  of  a  thought  was  there, 
Where  our  poor  English,  striped  with  foreign  phrase, 
Looks  like  a  zebra  in  a  parson's  chaise/ 

"Or  this  at  our  Transcendental  friends : 

'  'Deluded  infants !  will  they  never  know 
Some  doubts  must  darken  o'er  the  world  below, 
Though  all  the  Platos  of  the  nursery  trail 
Their  clouds  of  glory  at  the  go-cart's  tail.' 

"The  chief  defect  of  the  poetry  of  Transcendentalism  is 
that  it  is  too  philosophical.  Its  largest  intent  is  ethical  or  re 
ligious  and  not  artistic.  Beauty  is  not  its  chief  inspiration,  but 
thought.  .  .  .  It  is  not  written  to  please,  but  to  convince. 
It  contains  a  gospel  and  not  an  appeal  to  emotion  or  imagination. 

These    poets    are    not    singers,    but    preachers. 
Too  metaphysical,   subtle  and  complicated   in  thought  to   sing 
themselves  clearly  and  strongly  out  into  beautiful  words."204 

Whittier  expresses  this  thought,  too,  in  his  article  on 
Robert  Duismore: 

"Our  poetry  is  cold  and  imitative ;  it  seems  more  the  product 
of  overstrained  intellects  than  the  spontaneous  outgushing  of 
hearts  warm  with  love,  and  strongly  sympathizing  with  human 
nature  as  it  naturally  exists  about  us,  with  the  joys  and  griefs  of 
the  men  and  women  that  we  meet  daily.  Unhappily  the  opinion 
prevails  that  a  poet  must  be  also  a  philosopher,  and  hence  it  is 
that  much  of  our  poetry  is  as  indefinable  in  its  mysticism  as  an 
Indian  Brahmin's  Commentary  on  his  sacred  books,  or  German 
metaphysics  subjected  to  homoeopathic  dilution.  It  assumes  to  be 
prophetical,  and  its  utterances  are  oracular.  It  tells  of  strange, 
vague  emotions  and  yearnings,  painfully  suggestive  of  spiritual 
'groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered'.  If  it  'babbles  o'  green  fields' 
and  the  common  sights  and  sounds  of  nature,  it  is  only  for  the 


204  The  Poets  of  Transcendentalism,  an  Anthology,  by  Geo.  W.  Cooke,  1903. 
Introduction. 


Whiitiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        117 

purpose  of  finding  some  vague  analogy  between  them  and  its  in 
ternal  experiences  and  longings.  It  leaves  the  warm  and  com 
fortable  fireside  of  actual  knowledge  and  human  comprehension, 
and  goes  wailing  and  gibbering  like  a  ghost  about  the  impassible 
doors  of  mystery."205 

In  the  letter  of  Ann  E.  Wendell,  of  Philadelphia,  to  Whit- 
tier,  which  was  mentioned  under  Ronge,  she  makes  especial  men 
tion  of  the  Transcendentalists  and  of  Goethe : 

''Philadelphia,  12  mo.  24,  1846. 

"Thou  knowest,  I  suppose,  that  two  ministers  are  here  from 
England,  Benjamin  Sebohm,  a  native  of  Germany,  tho'  many 
years  a  resident  of  England.  We  have  had  an  interesting  visit 
from  them.  B.  S.  is  a  man  intellectually  as  well  as  spiritually 
gifted,  he  seems  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  religious  and 
literary  history  of  Germany — a  German  work  lying  on  the  table 
led  him  to  remark  that  German  authors  should  be  read  with  cau 
tion,  particularly  those  which  have  of  late  years  been  so  freely 
circulated  in  this  country  and  in  England;  bethought  trans 
cendentalism  was  unitarianism — that  our  Dr.  Charming  drank 
of  it  so  deeply  and  wrote  so  beautifully  that  his  influence  had 
done  much  to  render  it  so  fascinating  here ;  it  was,  he  said,  a  beau 
tiful  porch  leading  to  nothing  &  furthermore  he  said  that  these 
German  authors,  wh.  are  now  read  with  so  much  interest,  have 
many  of  them  passed  their  day  in  Germany  and  the  authors  them 
selves  were  ashamed  of  their  own  works ;  &  he  mentioned  the 
names  of  several  who  have  successfully  controverted  the  trans 
cendental  writers;  but  they  were  all  new  to  me  and  I  doubt 
whether  they  have  ever  been  translated.  He  seems  well  acquainted 
with  Goethe  and  spoke  of  him  as  having  done  a  great  deal  for  the 
literature  of  Germany,  tho  erroneous  in  many  of  his  views,  but  as 
he  advanced  in  life  he  made  advances  towards  something  like 
religious  belief,  wh.,  after  having  written  a  decidedly  infidel  work 
at  the  age  of  17  &  living  during  the  most  extensive  prevalence  of 
French  infidelity — manifested  a  desire  to  come  at  the  truth. 
I  wish  thee  could  have  conversed  with  him  about  these 


Prose  Works,  Vol.  II,  Riverside  Edition,  page  246. 


n8        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

things.     Thou  could  have  drawn   forth   so  much  more  than  I 
could." 

LUTHER. 

Ein  feste  Burg  ist  wiser  Gott. 

This  anti-slavery  poem  with  the  title  of  Luther's  hymn  ap 
peared  first  in  The  New  York  Independent  for  June  13,  1861. 

"Probably  no  other  of  Whittier's  war  hymns  had  such  wide 
and  immediate  effect  upon  the  popular  mind  as  the  one  set  to  the 
music  of  Luther's  hymn,  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott,  begin 
ning  with  the  lines : 

'We  wait  beneath  the  furnace  blast 
The  pangs  of  transformation.' 

It  was  read  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  President,  in  every  household 
in  the  North,  and  sung  in  the  Union  camps."206 

In  a  poem,207  The  Memory  of  Burns,  our  poet  says  of 
Luther's  hymns: 

"How  sweetly  come  the  holy  psalms 

From  saints  and  martyrs  down, 
The  waving  of  triumphal  palms 

Above  the  thorny  crown ! 
The  choral  praise,  the  chanted  prayers, 

From  harps  by  angels  strung, 
The  hunted  Cameron's  mountain  airs, 

The  hymns  that  Luther  sung!" 

The  character  of  the  reformer,  Luther,  appealed  strongly  to 
the  reformer,  Whittier.  Again  and  again  Whittier  refers  to  the 
stout-hearted  German. 

In  an  article  in  The  Essex  Gazette,  Haverhill,  Mass., 
August  1 6,  1834,  The  Defense  of  Abolitionists,  by  J.  G.  Whit 
tier,  he  says:  "What  was  it,  when  Luther  dashed  the  foot  of 
Papal  supremacy  from  the  neck  of  Germany  and  shook  the  quiet 
of  all  Christendom?" 

In  the  stirring  letter  (quoted  in  a  preceding  paragraph)  to 
Edward  Everett,  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  published  in  The 


S.  T.  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  pages  467-8. 
Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  199. 


Whittle r's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        119 

Liberator,  of  Saturday,  February  20,  1836,  occurs  this  passage: 
"Why  in  the  stormy  clays  of  the  Reformation  did  Luther  and  his 
followers  expose  the  corruption  and  fraud  of  all-grasping  Rome  ? 
It  will  irritate  the  masters!  and  why  then  do  our  orators,  thyself 
among  the  number,  denounce  the  old  world  tyrants — the  Sultan 
trampling  on  his  dependencies — the  Austrian  Despot  and  his 
crafty  Metternich  chaining  Italy  above  the  grave  of  her  ancient 
liberties." 

Whittier,  while  editing  The  Pennsylvania  Freeman,  1838- 
1840,  refused  to  discuss  in  the  columns  of  his  paper  other  sub 
jects  than  those,  to  which  the  paper  was  devoted,  and  used  the 
following  example  to  illustrate  his  point : 

"When  Anthony  of  Bourbon,  during  the  French  King's 
minority,  held  the  regency  of  France,  he  informed  the  Danish 
Ambassador  that  he  hoped  in  a  short  time  to  procure  a  free  pas 
sage  for  the  gospel  throughout  France.  The  Ambassador,  a  zeal 
ous  Lutheran,  expressed  his  pleasure,  but  hoped  that  Luther's, 
not  Calvin's  doctrines,  might  pass  current.  'Luther  and  Calvin' 
answered  the  Regent,  'agree  in  forty  points,  and  differ  but  in 
one.  Let  those  therefore  that  follow  the  tenets  of  those  two  unite 
their  strength  against  the  common  enemy,  and  at  better  leisure,  in 
a  more  convenient  season,  compound  their  own  differences'."208 

In  a  letter-09  to  Ann  E.  Wendell,  of  Philadelphia,  dated 
Amesbury,  Mass.,  eighth  month,  1843,  our  Poet  remarks: 

"I  should  be  heartily  glad  to  visit  Philadelphia,  to  sit  with 
Cousin  Ann,  and  discuss  upon  the  great  problems  of  human  life 
and  destiny,  and  not  upon  these  high  abstractions  alone,  but  upon 
the. household  things,  the  simple,  the  tender  and  the  beautiful  of 
daily  life,  which  'lie  scattered  at  the  feet  of  man  like  flowers'  and 
talk  with  thy  mother  about  Luther,  Melanchthon,  and  Pope  and 
Cardinal,  and  Fathers  and  Councils." 

In  The  National  Era,  February  n,  1847,  is  a  letter  dated 
Amesbury,  Mass.,  first  of  second  month  1847,  in  which  Whit- 
tier  writes  of  an  address  he  has  heard  in  Boston,  given  by  Wil 
liam  H.  Channing: 

208  Pickard,  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Grcenlcaf  Whittier,  page  230. 
109  Fickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  279. 


I2O        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"I  was  struck  by  the  speaker's  eulogium  upon  a  class  of  men 
who  have  been  heretofore  everywhere  spoken  against — the  poor 
Anabapists  of  the  Reformation.  He  claimed  for  them  the  merit 
of  having  seen  clearly  the  truth  which  Luther  and  Calvin  did  not 
always  practically  admit — that  Christianity  was  intended  to  bless 
this  world  as  well  as  the  next;  that  it  discountenanced  alike  the 
spiritual  despotism  of  the  Pope,  and  the  temporary  tyranny  of 
Protestant  nobles." 

In  an  article  in  The  National  Era,  Washington,  May  18, 
1848,  Whittier  quotes  from  one  of  Luther's  speeches: 

"The  Fulfilment — The  extraordinary  changes  now  going  on 
in  the  Old  World,  where,  to  use  the  figure  of  The  London  Times, 
'The  States  of  Europe  are  so  many  ninepins,  and  Democracy 
is  bowling  at  them/  calls  to  mind  the  strong  language  which 
Luther  addressed  to  the  Princes  of  his  time : 

'Your  tyranny  and  insolence  can  no  longer  be  endured.  God 
will  not  endure  it.  The  people  cannot  be  hunted  and  driven  like 
game  as  in  the  world's  infancy.  The  peope  shall  become  enlight 
ened,  and  princely  scourges  shall  fall  before  the  people.' 

"The  fullness  of  time  has  come.  Far  more  than  Luther 
dreamed  of  or  desired,  is  taking  place  in  his  own  beloved  Father 
land.  The  princely  scourges  are  everywhere  falling,  everywhere 
the  people  are  sovereign.  'Awake,  glorious  Freedom!'  was  the 
response  of  Ulrich  von  Hutten  to  the  stirring  appeal  of  Luther. 
'By  God's  blessing  we  will  assert  our  common  liberties/  The 
voice  of  that  stout  knight  of  the  Reformation,  who  demanded 
civil  as  well  as  religious  freedom,  sounding  through  the  centuries, 
stirs  the  heart  of  Europe.  The  thought  which  struggled  dimly 
in  the  minds  of  the  German  peasantry  in  the  time  of  Luther,  that 
the  freemen  of  Christ  should  not  be  slaves  of  men,  that  without 
personal  there  could  be  no  religious  liberty,  that  Christianity  is 
designed  to  bless  this  life  as  well  as  that  to  come,  is  the  predom 
inant  idea  of  the  present  time.  The  Pope  is  granting  Constitu 
tions.  The  Austrian  Despot  is  supplicating  the  forebearance  of 
his  subjects,  and  the  'divine  right  of  Kings'  is  an  exploded  idea, 
consigned  to  the  Limbo  of  Milton's  Paradise  of  Fools/' 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        121 

In  his  article  on  James  Nayler2W  Whittier  says : 

"Let  those  who  would  harshly  judge  him,  or  ascribe  his  fall 
to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  his  sect,  think  of  Luther,  engaged  in 
personal  combat  with  the  Devil,  or  conversing  with  him  on  points 
of  theology  in  his  bed-chamber;  or  of  Bunyan  at  actual  fisticuffs 
with  the  adversary;  or  of  Fleetwood  and  Vane  and  Harrison 
millenium-mad,  and  making  preparations  for  an  earthly  reign 
of  King  Jesus.  It  was  a  reign  of  intense  religious  excitement. 
Fanaticism  had  become  epidemic." 

In  an  article  on  William  Leggett,211  he  speaks  of  Leggett's 
reply  to  an  attack  on  him  by  Tammany  Hall  for  his  abolition 
sentiments : 

"Its  tone  was  calm,  manly,  self-relying;  the  language  of  one 
who,  having  planted  his  feet  hard  down  on  the  rock  of  principle, 
stood  there  like  Luther  at  Worms,  because  he  'could  not  other 


wise'.' 


Our  poet  quotes  the  famous  words  of  Luther  again  in  an 
article,  The  Training:212 

".  .  .  Luther  closing  his  speech  at  Worms  with  the  sublime 
emphasis  of  his  'Here  stand  I ;  /  cannot  otherwise;  God  help  me' ; 
Wm.  Penn  defending  the  rights  of  Englishmen  from  the  bale- 
dock  of  the  fleet  prison,  .  .  .  — all  these,  and  such  as  these,  now 
help  me  to  form  the  loftier  ideal  of  Christian  heroism." 

In  the  poem,  To  George  B.  Cheevcr,213  Whittier  says  of 
Luther : 

"Mightier  was  Luther's  Word 
Than  Sickingen's  mailed  arm  or  Hutten's  sword !" 

And  in  an  article  on  Religious  Beliefs : 

"We  agree  with  Luther  that  'the  Scriptures  are  not  to  be  un 
derstood,  but  by  that  very  spirit  by  which  they  were  written'."214 


210  Prose  Works,  Vol.  II,  Riverside  Edition,  page  74. 

211  Prose  Works,  Vol.  II,  Riverside  Edition,  page  200. 
213  Prose  Works,  Vol.  I,  Riverside  Edition,  page  348. 

213  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  198. 

214Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  264. 


122        W hit tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Another  reference  in  Whittier's  poems  is  in  Amy  Wenk- 
zvorth:215 

"Let  us  keep  sweet, 
If  so  we  may,  our  hearts,  even  while  we  eat 

The  bitter  harvest  of  our  own  device 
And  half  a  century's  moral  cowardice, 

As  Nurnberg  sang  while  Wittenberg  defied, 
And  Kranach  painted  by  his  Luther's  side;" 

THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR  OF  1870. 

In  various  letters,  Whittier  shows  his  attitude  toward 
Prussia  as  that  of  the  deepest  sympathy.  The  following  unpub 
lished  letter216  to  Charles  Sumner  does  not  state  the  year,  but 
it  is  written  before  the  war  and  shows  Whittier's  strong  disap 
proval  of  the  usurpations  of  Napoleon  III  of  France : 

"Amesbury  2Oth,  8  mo. 
"My  dear  Friend : 

"I  wish  I  felt  able  to  take  the  cars  to  Boston  and  hear  thy 
speech  this  evening.  I  was  glad  to  hear  of  the  meeting,  although 
I  greatly  fear  it  is  too  late  to  be  of  any  service  to  poor  Hungary. 
She  will  be  crushed  under  the  avalanche  of  Russian  barbarism, 
and  the  sympathies  and  congratulations  of  the  friends  of  free 
dom  abroad  will  be  to  her  'like  delicacies  upon  a  mouth  shut  up 
or  as  meats  set  upon  a  grave'. 

"I  wish,  either  in  resolutions  or  speeches,  the  disgraceful 
conduct  of  that  miserable  disciple  of  Calhoun  democracy  and 
Papal  infallibility,  R.  Walsh,  could  be  noticed  as  it  deserves. 
Through  him  our  government  commits  itself  in  favor  of  the 
Kings  and  Princes  of  Europe  in  their  barbarous  measures  for 
suppressing  the  growth  of  free  principles.  We  are  made  parties 
to  the  usurpations  of  Bonaparte  the  Less,  the  bombardment  of 
Rome — the  bloody  rule  of  Naples — the  atrocious  barbarities  of 
Austria  and  Russia  in  Hungary.  The  miserable  fellow  would 
be  nothing  by  himself,  but  as  an  official  of  our  government,  he 
can  do  a  good  deal  to  disgrace  us. 


r5  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  80. 
118  Letter  in  possession  of  the  Harvard  Library. 


Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        123 

"What  will  become  of  the  Roman  and  Prussian  exiles, 
driven  from  Malta  and  Switzerland?  Cannot  our  government, 
in  case  they  wish  to  emigrate  to  this  country,  secure  their  safe 
passage  to  parts  for  that  purpose? 

"Affectionately  thy  friend, 

"J.  G.  WHITTIER." 

In  a  letter217  to  Lydia  Maria  Child,  August  3,  1870,  Whit- 
tier  says: 

"My  deepest  sympathies  are  with  Prussia  in  the  impending 
contest.  What  a  monster  Napoleon  is!  Was  he  born  without 
moral  sense?  Has  he  no  conscience,  no  remorse?  There  is 
something  weird  and  dreadful  about  him.  The  prayers  of  all 
the  priests  of  Rome  are  with  him ;  but  the  cry  of  innocent  blood, 
rising  to  heaven,  will  drown  them.  I  think  he  is  rushing  upon 
his  fate." 

In  an  article  on  The  Unity  of  Italy218  read  at  the  great  meet 
ing  held  in  New  York  in  January,  1871,  in  celebration  of  the  free 
dom  of  Rome  and  complete  unity  of  Italy,  Whittier  expressed 
again  the  thought  that  Napoleon  had  brought  his  fate  upon  him 
self: 

"My  sympathies  are  with  Julves  Favre  and  Leon  Gambetta 
in  their  efforts  to  establish  and  sustain  a  republic  in  France,  but 
I  confess  that  the  investment  of  Paris  by  King  William  seems  to 
me  the  logical  sequence  of  the  bombardment  of  Rome  by  Ouclinot. 
And  is  it  not  a  significant  fact  that  the  terrible  chassepot,  which 
made  its  first  bloody  experiment  upon  the  half -armed  Italian 
patriots  without  the  walls  of  Rome,  has  failed  in  the  hands  of 
French  republicans  against  the  inferior  needle-gun  of  Prussia?" 

In  another  unpublished  letter219  to  Charles  Sutnner,  dated 
Amesbury  roth,  9  mo.  1870,  Whittier  says: 
"Dear  Sumner : 

"I  was  glad  to  see  thy  handwriting  on  the  margin  of  a  paper 
sent  me  a  day  or  two  ago.  The  incident  to  which  it  refers  is  a 


Life  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  by  F.  H.  Underwood,  1891,  page  280. 
Prose  Works  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  Vol.  Ill,  page  230. 
Letter  in  Harvard  Library. 


124        Whittier s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

striking  one.  Can  nothing  be  done  by  our  government  to  bring 
about  peace  between  Prussia  and  France?  Now  that  Napoleon 
is  dethroned,  I  hope  the  Prussians  will  be  as  magnanimous  as 
they  have  proved  themselves  brave.  My  sympathies  have  been 
with  them  up  to  this  time." 

In  the  poem  on  the  French  statesman,  Thiers22®  Whittier 
pays  a  high  tribute  to  his  successful  efforts  in  bringing  about 
peace  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war : 

"He,  when  around  the  walls  of  Paris  rung 
The  Prussian  bugle  like  the  blast  of  doom, 

And  every  ill  which  follows  unblest  war 
Maddened  all  France  from  Finistere  to  Var, 

The  weight  of  fourscore  from  his  shoulders  flung, 
And  guided  Freedom  in  the  path  he  saw 

Lead  out  of  Chaos  into  light  and  law,  etc." 

Whittier  refers  to  the  statesman  who  was  instrumental  in 
founding  the  Liberal  Imperial  Party,  and  who  most  strongly  sup 
ported  Bismarck  in  his  anti-Papal  policy — Prince  Hohenlohe — in 
his  article  on  Magicians  and  Witch  Folk:221 

"He  found  the  old  man  sitting  in  his  plain  parlor  in  the 
simplest  garb  of  his  sect, — grave,  thoughtful,  venerable, — a  drab- 
coated  Prince  Hohenlohe." 

CHILD  LIFE. 

Whittier  edited,  with  the  aid  of  Lucy  Larcom,  two  books 
of  selections  for  children;  the  first,  Child  Life,  a  collection  of 
poems  by  various  authors,  was  published  in  1871 ;  and  the  second, 
a  companion  volume,  Child  Life  in  Prose,  was  published  in  1873. 

Through  Mrs.  James  Fields  we  know  two  of  the  books  they 
used  in  collecting  this  material  :222 

"He  became  interested  one  morning  in  a  plan  proposed  to 
him  for  making  a  collection  of  poems  for  young  people,  one 
which  he  finally  completed  with  the  aid  of  Lucy  Larcom. 


220  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  210. 

221  Prose  Works,  Vol.  T,  page  405. 

222  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields  in  Whittier,  Notes  on  His  Life  and  Friendships,  page 
52.     New  York,  1893. 


Whittled s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        125 

"We  got  down  from  the  shelf  Longfellow's  Poets  and  Poetry 
of  Europe  and  looked  it  over  together. 

"Annie  of  Thar  aw  was  a  great  favorite  of  his." 

In  an  unpublished  letter223  to  Mrs.  Fields,  dated  Boston  18, 
4  mo.  1871,  Whittier  says: 

"I  wanted  to  see  thee,  and  consult  thee  about  the  little  col 
lection  of  children's  poems.  We  found  some  nice  pieces  in 
Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,2-*  and  some  more  in  the  Poets 
Hours,  which  I  herewith  return  with  many  thanks.  We  have 
got  together  a  sufficient  amount  of  material ;  my  only  fear  is,  that 
there  are  some  better  things  which  have  escaped  our  notice." 

In  the  introduction  to  the  book  of  poems,  Child  Life,  the 
author  says  :225 

"The  editor  has  availed  himself  of  selections  from  the  folk 
songs  and  ballads  of  Continental  Europe."226 

And  again  in  speaking  of  the  sort  of  stories  given  to  chil 
dren  he  remarks : 

"In  HaufFs  Fortunes  of  Fairylore227  the  heroine  complains, 
to  her  mother  fancy,  that  the  world  has  grown  uncomfortably 
wise,  and  that  the  very  children  who  used  to  love  her  so  dearly 
have  become  too  knowing  for  their  tender  age,  and,  no  longer 
capable  of  wonder,  laugh  at  her  stories  and  turn  their  backs  on 
her.  Poor  Fairylore  is  doubtless  justified  in  her  complaint — the 
schoolmaster  and  newspaper  are  busy  with  their  disenchant- 
ments." 

The  reference  is  here  to  Wilhelm  HaufFs  Marchen  als 
Almanack,  Einleitung22* 

The  selections  in  the  book  taken  from  the  German  are : 

( i )  Sleep,  Baby,  Sleep.    From  the  German,  page  18. 
A  translation  of  the  well-known  Volkslied: 


223  Letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields,  Boston. 

224  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,  edited  by  H.  W.  Longfellow. 

225  Cambridge   Edition  of   Child  Life,  published  by   Houghton,   Mifflin   & 
Company. 

220  Introduction,  page  vii. 

227  Introduction,  page  viii. 

228  See  Hauffs  Werke  herausgegeben  von  Dr.  C.  Flaischlen.  Bd.  TT,  S.  4. 


126         Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Schlaf,  Kindlein,  Schlaf. 

Der  Vater  hi'tt't  die  Schaf,  u.  s.  w. 

(2)  Winter.    From  the  German,  page  98,  is  a  translation  of 

Ein  Lied,  hintcrin  Ofcn  LH  singen,  by  Matthias 
Claudius,  which  begins :  "Der  Winter  ist  ein 
rechter  Mann."229 

(3)  Greediness  Punished.     From  the  German  of  Riickert, 

page  130,  is  a  translation  of  Friedrich  Riickert's 
poem  Bestrafte  Ungeniigsamkeit.23" 

(4)  The  Toy  of  the  Giant's  Child.     From  the  German  of 

Chamisso,  page  131. 

This  is  the  well-known  poem  by  Adelbert  von  Chamisso, 
Das  Riesenspieheug.231 

(5)  Charley,  the  Story  Teller.   From  the  German,  page  204. 

(6)  Sunday  Morning.     From  the  German  of  Hebel,  page 

210. 

This  is  the  poem  Sonntagsfriihe,232  by  Johann  Peter 
Hebel,  and  is  the  same  translation  as  that  given  by 
Longfellow  in  his  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe. 

(7)  Falling  to  Sleep.    From  the  German,  page  261. 

This  is  doubtless  a  paraphrase  of  the  poem  Gute 
Nacht,233  by  Emanuel  Geibel. 

(8)  Among  Green  Pleasant  Meadows.     From  the  German 

of  Herder,  page  109. 

This  translation  is  in  Longfellow's  Poets  and  Poetry  of 
Europe  under  the  title  of  A  Legendary  Ballad,  and 
is  taken  from  Herder's  poem,  Die  Geschivister.234 

In  the  preface  to  Child  Life  in  Prose,  Whittier  quotes  two 
passages  from  Jean  Paul  Richter : 

"Not  irreverently  has  Jean  Paul  said:  'I  love  God  and  little 
children.  Ye  stand  nearest  to  Him,  ye  little  ones'." 


229  Matthias  Claudius  Werke,  Hamburg,  1819.   Bd.  II,  S.  87. 

230  See  Ruckerts  Poetische  Werke,  Frankfurt  am  M.,  1882.    Bd.  II,  S.  58. 
281  See  Kluges  Auswahl  deutscher  Gedichte,  Altenburg,  1896,  S.  35. 

232  See  Kluges  Auszvahl  deutscher  Gedichte,  S.  195. 
aas  See  Kluges  Ausiwhl  deutscher  Gedichte,  S.  96. 

234  See  Herders  S'dmtntllche  Werke,  herausgegeben  von  B.  Suphan,  Berlin, 
1884.   Bd.  XXVIII,  page  220. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        127 

And  again : 

'  1  can  bear',  said  Richter,  'to  look  upon  a  melancholy  man, 
but  I  cannot  look  upon  a  melancholy  child.  Fancy  a  butterfly 
crawling  like  a  caterpillar,  with  his  four  wings  pulled  off!'  "235 

Of  Goethe's  "child  figure",  Mignon,  in  Wilhelm  Meister, 
Whittier  says  in  this  preface : 

"How  sweetly,  amidst  the  questionable  personages  who  give 
small  occasion  of  respect  for  manhood  or  womanhood  as  they 
waltz  and  wander  through  the  story  of  Wilhelm  Meister,  rises 
the  child  figure  of  Mignon!"236 

From  German  authors  the  book  contains  the  following 
selections : 

(1)  Amrie  and  the  Geese — Berthold  Auerbach,  page  131. 
This  is  an  anecdote  taken  from  Auerbach's  Barfiissele. 

(2)  Star  Dollars — Grimm's   Household   Tales,   page    192, 

is  the  well-known  Marchen,  Die  Sternthaler. 

(3)  The  Story  Without  an  End — German  of  Carove,  page 

229.  This  is  Das  Marchen  ohne  Ende,  by  F.  W. 
Carove. 

(4)  Memories  of  Child  Life.     By  Jean  Paul  Richter  (one 

of  the  great  authors  of  Germany),  page  271. 
is  taken  from  a  translation  of  Aus  Jean  Pauls 
Leben,  written  by  himself. 

MAX  MULLER. 
The  Brewing  of  Soma. 

This  poem,  written  in  1872,  was  suggested  to  Whittier  by  a 
translation  of  the  eminent  German  scholar  and  orientalist,  Pro 
fessor  Friedrich  Max  Muller.  Whittier  heads  his  poem  with 
a  quotation237  from  Professor  Miiller's  translation : 


235  Jean  Paul  Richters  Werke,  Berlin,  Hempel,  Th.  54-60,  Levana  Kap. 
II,  S.  58. 

338  Preface,  page  6. 

287  Headnote  to  Whittier's  poem,  The  Brewing  of  Soma.  Cambridge 
Edition  of  Poems,  page  449. 


128        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"These  libations  mixed  with  milk  have  been  prepared  for 
Indra:  offer  Soma  to  the  drinker  of  Soma."  Vashista,  translated 
by  Max  Miiller. 

Whittier  speaks  again  of  Miiller  in  an  article  on  Lydia 
Maria  Child:238 

"If  in  her  desire  to  do  justice  to  the  religions  of  Budha  and 
Mohammed,  in  which  she  has  been  followed  by  Maurice,  Max 
Miiller,  and  Dean  Stanley,  she  seems  at  times  to  dwell  upon  the 
best  and  overlook  the  darker  features  of  these  systems,  her  con 
cluding  reflections  should  vindicate  her  from  the  charge  of  un 
dervaluing  the  Christian  faith,  or  of  lack  of  reverent  apprecia 
tion  of  its  founder." 

FREILIGRATH. 

In  1877,  the  English  and  American  residents  of  Stuttgart 
proposed  to  celebrate  the  first  anniversary  of  the  death  of  the 
German  poet  Freiligrath.  Robert  S.  Rantoul,  of  Salem,  Mass., 
who  was  at  that  time  staying  at  Stuttgart,  wrote  to  Whittier 
inviting  him  to  contribute  verses  for  the  occasion;  Longfellow 
was  asked  to  do  the  same,  but  the  invitations  reached  them  too 
late  to  comply  to  the  request.  Both  poets,  however,  sent  letters 
of  appreciation  and  money  for  the  monument,  which  was  to  be 
erected  in  Stuttgart  in  honor  of  the  dead  poet.  Whittier's  letter239 
is  written  from  Oak  Knoll,  Danvers,  Mass. : 

"3rd  mo.,  5,  1877. 
My  dear  Friend: 

I  have  been  absent  from  Amesbury  for  some  time  and  thy 
letter  has  just  reached  me,  too  late  I  fear  for  the  occasion  to 
which  I  refer.  I  would  gladly,  were  I  able,  send  a  word  for  the 
anniversary ;  as  it  is,  I  beg  the  privilege  of  contributing  my  mite 
for  the  proposed  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  poet- 
patriot  Freiligrath.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  I  have  been  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  him,  as  the  foremost  liberal  poet  of  his  time.  In 


298  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  page  293. 

*'  Personal  Reminiscences  of  the  Poet  Whittier,  by  R.  S.  Rantoul.  Pub. 
of  Essex  Institute,  Salem,  Mass.,  1901.  Vol.  37,  page  145.  The  original  of 
this  letter  is  in  the  Essex  Institute. 


Whittle?' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        129 

the  dark  days  of  our  anti-slavery  struggle,  his  brave  words  for 
universal  freedom  have  cheered  and  strengthened  me. 

Pay  for  me  twenty  dollars  ($20)  for  the  monument,  and 
advise  me  where  and  with  whom  I  can  deposit  the  sum  at  Salem. 

The  bells  are  ringing  in  the  new  Republican  President 
Rutherford  Hayes,  in  whose  cabinet  the  German  born  Carl  Schurz 
has  a  place.  His  inaugural  is  a  brief  but  noble  document,  and  we 
hope  excellent  things  from  him. 

Always  thy  friend, 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER." 

A  letter240  of  thanks  to  the  Committee  for  the  Memorial 
reads  as  follows : 

"Stuttgart  und  Cannstatt,  4.   November  1877. 

Verehrlichtem  Comite  behufs  der  Freiligrath  Feier  fur  eng- 
lischsprechende  Bewohner  von  Stuttgart  und  Umgebung. 

Hochgeehrte  Herren! 

Indem  wir  im  Namen  des  Comites  fur  Errichtung  eines 
Denkmals  iiber  dem  Grabe  Ferdinand  Freiligraths  fur  den 
uns  giitigst  ubermachten  Erlos  aus  der  von  Ihnen  veranstalteten 
Freiligrath-Feier  unseren  verbindlichsten  Dank  aussprechen,  kon- 
nen  wir  uns  nicht  versagen,  Ihnen  zugleich  im  Auftrage  unseres 
Comites  wie  im  Namen  der  von  dem  Comite  vertretenen  Verehrer 
des  Dichters  unsere  dankbare  Anerkennung  fur  die  schonen  Be- 
muhungen  darzubringen,  mit  denen  Sie,  hochgeehrte  Herren, 
unsere  Absichten  unterstiitzt  und  dem  Andenken  eines  zweien 
Nationen  theueren  und  edlen  Dichtergeistes  eine  erhebende  und 
unseren  Herzen  doppelt  wohlthuende  Hulcligung  dargebracht  ha- 
ben. 

Sie  haben  gleichzeitig  die  Giite  geliabt  uns  wertvolle  Beitrage 
von  den  beiden  amerikanischen  Dichtern  Longfellow  und  Whit- 
tier  zu  tibermachen.  Indem  wir  Ihnen  auch  hiefiir  danken,  er- 
lauben  wir  uns  die  ergebenste  Bitte,  dass  Sie,  hochgeehrte  Her 
ren,  giitigst  den  beiden  edlen  Gebern  unseren  tiefstgefiihlten  Dank 
und  die  Versicherung  kundgeben  wollten,  dass  eine  Gabe  von  so 


Original  manuscript  in  Essex  Institute,  Salem,  Mass. 


130        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

ruhmvollem  und  gefeiertem  Ursprung  in  unseren  Herzen  einen 
vollen  Wiederhall  gefunden  und  uns  in  unseren  Bestrebungen  we- 
sentlich  gekraftigt  und  ermutigt  hat.  Wir  erlauben  uns  die  Mit- 
theilung  anzufiigen,  dass  voraussichtlich  die  Herstellung  des 
Denkmals  unverweilt  in  Angriff  genommen  werden  wird.  Geneh- 
migen  Sie  den  Ausdruck  unserer  ausgezeichnetsten  Hochachtung, 
womit  wir  die  Ehre  haben  zu  zeichnen  im  Namen  des  Freiligrath- 
Comites  in  Stuttgart  und  Canstatt. 

PROF.  JULIUS  KLAIBER,  Vorsitzender; 

CARL  HARTENSTEIN,  Kassier." 

"Das  Freiligrath-Comite  in  Canstatt  und  Stuttgart  be- 
scheinigt  hierdurch  dem  verehrlichjen  Comite  behufs  der  Frei- 
ligrath-Feier  fiir  englischsprechende  Bewohner  von  Stuttgart  und 
Umgebung  den  Beitrag  von  M.  183.36  und  durch  dasselbe  Comite 
als  Beitrage  von  den  amerikanischen  Dichtern,  Longfellow  und 
Whittier,  M.  285.94,  zusammen  M.  469.30,  mit  Worten:  vierhun- 
dert  neunundsechzig  Mark  dreissig  Pfennig  baar  empfangen  zu 

haben. 

Cannstatt,  5.  November  1877. 

Der  Kassier  des  Freiligrath-Comites, 
CARL  HARTENSTEIN." 

Mr.  Rantoul,  in  a  speech,241  on  the  death  of  the  translator 
Charles  F.  Brooks,  before  the  Essex  Institute,  June,  1883,  speaks 
of  Whittier's  admiration  for  Freiligrath  and  calls  the  latter  the 
Whittier  of  the  Teuton  race. 

Eduard  Engel  says  of  him :  "Wollen  wir  fiir  Whittier  unter 
europaischen  Dichtern  seinesgleichen  suchen,  so  wiissten  wir  nur 
Victor  Hugo  oder  Freiligrath  zu  nennen."241a 

THE  Two  ELIZABETHS. 
This  poem  was  published  first  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  July, 

1885. 

Whittier  composed  the  poem242  for  the  occasion  of  the 
unveiling  of  the  bust  of  Elizabeth  Fry  in  the  fifth  month,  1885, 

241  Bulletin  of  Essex  Institute,  Vol.  XV,  pages  26-28. 
*n&Gesch.  der  Lit.  Nord-Amerikas,  von  E.  Engel,  Leipzig,  S.  20-24. 
348  Proceedings  at  the  unveiling  of  a  bust  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  at  the  Friends' 
School,  Providence,  R.  I.,  Ninth  Month  29,  1885.    Note  to  page  8. 


W hit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        131 

at  the  Friends  School,  Providence,  R.  L,  expecting  that  it  would 
be  read  then  and  appear  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly  in  the  seventh 
month.  The  bust  was  unexpectedly  retained  several  months  at 
the  Royal  Academy,  in  London,  and  the  publication  of  the  poem 
could  not  be  prevented. 

Augustine  Jones,  a  friend  of  the  poet,  writes:  "The 
sympathy  of  Whittier  with  the  Broad  Church  of  Humanity, 
is  disclosed  in  few,  if  any,  of  his  writings,  more  vividly  than 
in  this  discriminative  poem.  One  of  the  Elizabeths  is  a  Catholic 
philanthropist,  reared  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
in  the  midst  of  the  superstitions  of  her  church,  with  more  legends 
connected  with  her  career  than  encircle  the  annals  of  any  other 
person  since  her  time. 

"The  other  Elizabeth,  a  philanthropist,  also,  was  fostered  six 
hundred  years  later  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  has  no 
ritual,  no  pomp,  or  canonization  of  saints;  and  is  bereft  of  all 
ecclesiastical  magnificance,  as  completely  as  the  religion  an 
nounced  at  Jacob's  well.  The  religious  development  of  these 
women  was  as  diverse  and  irreconcilable  as  can  well  be  conceived ; 
yet  these  are  the  great  twin  sisters  divinely  impelled  to  the  same 
service  of  love.  Whittier  had  given  the  strength  of  his  life  to 
downtrodden  humanity.  Who  better  than  he  could  discern  the 
unanimity  of  purpose  and  overmastering  love  which  dominated 
the  Elizabeths?  Both  the  contrast  and  unity  between  the  two 
characters  makes  for  each  of  them  a  brilliant  setting  in  the 
poem."243 

Whittier  divides  his  poem244  into  two  parts,  and  heads  the 
first  with  the  year  1207  (the  birth  of  St.  Elizabeth),  and  tells  in 
the  poem  of  her  saintly  life  and  work;  then  under  the  year  1780, 
(the  birth  of  Elizabeth  Fry-4r>)  he  gives  an  account  of  her  work. 

The  poet's  tribute  to  St.  Elizabeth  begins : 


248  The  Two  Elisabeths,  by  Augustine  Jones.  Reprinted  from  the  American 
Friend  of  Eleventh  Month  8,  1900.    Page  7. 

244  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  134. 

245  Elizabeth  Fry,   1780-1845,  was  born  at  Earlham,   England,  and  was   a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.     She  was  early  impressed  with  the  gospel 
of  truth.     At  twenty-nine  she  followed  the  inward  voice  which  called  her  to 


132        Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

A.  D.  1207. 

"Amidst  Thuringia's  wooded  hills  she  dwelt, 

A  high-born  princess,  servant  of  the  poor. 
Sweetening  with  gracious  words  the  food  she  dealt 
To  starving  throngs  at  Wartburg's  blazoned  door." 

Of  the  English  St.  Elizabeth  Whittier  says: 
A.  D.  1780. 

"Slow  ages  passed:  and  lo!  another  came, 

An  English  matron,  in  whose  simple  faith 
Nor  priestly  rule  nor  ritual  had  claim, 
A  plain,  uncanonized  Elizabeth." 

The  last  verse  pays  a  tribute  to  both  lives: 

"United  now,  the  Briton  and  the  Hun, 

Each,  in  her  own  time,  faithful  unto  death, 
Live  sister  souls !  in  name  and  spirit  one, 
Thuringia's  saint  and  our  Elizabeth!" 

THE  BROWN  DWARF  OF  RUEGEN. 

In  a  note246  to  the  poem ;  Whittier  says  :  "The  ballad  appeared 
first  in  St.  Nicholas,247  whose  young  readers  were  advised,  while 
smiling  at  the  absurd  superstition,  to  remember  that  bad  com 
panionship  and  evil  habits,  desires,  and  passions  are  more  to  be 
dreaded  now  than  the  Elves  and  Trolls  who  frightened  the  chil 
dren  of  the  past  ages." 

The  poet  says  also:  "The  hint  of  this  ballad  is  found  in 
Arnclt's  Marchen,  Berlin,  i8i6."~48 


the  ministry  and  experienced  much  peace  accordingly.  She  was  interested  in 
the  poor  and  needy  around  her  and  ministered  to  their  spiritual  and  bodily 
wants.  She  is  best  known  for  her  noble  work  in  the  prisons  of  England.  The 
condition  in  the  English  prisons  at  that  time  was  appalling.  She  travelled 
through  the  country  from  place  to  place,  finding  out  conditions  in  the  prisons, 
and  conferring  with  the  authorities,  and  interesting  the  women  to  form 
associations  to  carry  out  the  needed  reforms.  Her  success  was  due  mainly 
to  her  own  personal  influence  and  exertions. 

246  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  138. 

247  The  poem  appeared  in  the  January  number  of  St.  Nicholas,  1888,  with 
illustrations  by  E.  H.  Blashfield. 

""Arndts  Marchen,  Th.  I.  was  published  by  Georg  Reimer,  Berlin,  1818, 
Th.  II.  1843. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        133 

Among  Whittier's  books  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  is  a  copy  of 
The  Fairy  Mythology  of  Various  Countries,  by  Thomas  Keightly, 
London,  1850,  containing  the  story,  The  Isle  of  Rug  en  ^  taken 
from  Arndt's  Mdrchen.  As  Whittier  could  not  read  Arndt  in  the 
original,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  chapter  on  John  Dietrich, 
in  this  book,  was  his  source.  He  has,  however,  varied  it  some 
what  from  the  story  in  Keightly,  which  follows  closely  that  given 
by  Arndt  in  his  Marchen  called  Die  Neun  Berge  bei  Rambin. 

In  Whittier's  poem,  Elsbeth  wanders  out  among  the  Nine 
Hills  and  is  stolen  by  the  Trolls.  Five  years  she  is  mourned  in 
vain,  when  her  playmate,  John  Dietrich,  the  Amtmann's  son,  re 
solves  to  find  her.  He  watches  among  the  Hills  until  he  sees  the 
little  people  dancing  in  the  moonlight : 

"And  when  their  gay-robed  leader  tossed  up  his  cap  of  red, 
Young  Dietrich  caught  it  as  it  fell,  and  thrust  it  on  his  head. 

"The  troll  came  crouching  at  his  feet  and  wept  for  lack  of  it. 
'Oh  give  me  back  my  magic  cap,  for  your  great  head  unfit!' 

"  'Nay',  Dietrich  said,  'the  Dwarf  who  throws  his  charmed  cap 

away, 
Must  serve  its  finder  at  his  will,  and  for  his  folly  pay. 

"  'You  stole  my  pretty  Lisbeth,  and  hid  her  in  the  earth; 

And  you  shall  ope  the  door  of  glass  and  let  me  lead  her  forth'." 

The  dwarf  is  forced  to  obey  and  leads  Dietrich  to  their 
"elfin  underland",  where  he  finds  Lisbeth  very  pale  and  sorrow 
ful,  serving  the  dwarfs  at  table,  and  longing  for  the  green  fields 
of  Riigen.  Dietrich's  heart  is  touched  at  the  sight  of  her  pale  face 
and  he  says : 

..."  'For  five  long  years  this  tender  Christian  maid 

Has  served  you  in  your  evil  world,  and  well  must  she  be  paid!' 

"  'Haste ! — hither  bring  me  precious  gems,  the  richest  in  your 

store ; 

Then  when  we  pass  the  gate  of  glass,  you'll  take  your  cap  once 
more.' 


Fairy  Mythology,  by  Thomas  Keightly,  pages  174-205. 


134        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"No  choice  was  left  the  baffled  Troll,  and,  murmuring,  he  obeyed, 
And  filled  the  pockets  of  the  youth  and  apron  of  the  maid. 

"They  left  the  dreadful  underland  and  passed  the  gate  of  glass, 
They  felt  the  sunshine's  warm  caress,  they  trod  the  soft,  green 
grass. 

"And  when,  beneath,  they  saw  the  Dwarf  stretch  up  to  them  his 

brown 
And  crooked  claw-like  fingers,  they  tossed  this  red  cap  down." 

In  the  original  Marchen,  Dietrich  is  told  by  a  cowherd  the 
story  of  the  brown  dwarfs  and  of  their  dance-night  on  St.  John's 
day.  He  is  curious  and  goes  out  on  the  Nine  Hills  to  watch  for 
the  tiny  dancers,  but  falls  asleep  and  when  twelve  o'clock  strikes, 
the  little  people  come  out,  and  in  their  glee  fling  their  brown  caps 
in  the  air.  John,  who  is  wakened  by  their  merriment,  gets  hold 
of  one  of  the  caps  and  keeps  it.  He  goes  with  the  Trolls  under 
ground  and  is  amused  by  all  he  sees.  He  finds  there  his  old 
playmate,  Elsbeth,  who  had  come  into  their  power  by  falling 
asleep  on  the  hills,  and  who  is  obliged  to  serve  the  dwarfs  fifty 
years,  as  do  all  the  children  stolen  from  the  upper  world.  John 
is  attracted  to  the  little  maid  and  they  spend  many  happy  moments 
together,  until  he  becomes  eighteen  and  she  sixteen.  John  has 
enjoyed  his  life  underground,  but  Elsbeth  has  always  thought 
sorrowfully  of  the  life  outside  the  hills.  She  becomes  more  and 
more  melancholy  in  the  thought  that  she  must  serve  the  dwarfs 
so  long.  John  cannot  see  his  friend  so  sad,  so  he  begs  the  Trolls 
to  let  them  go,  but  all  in  vain.  Finally,  after  many  unsuccessful 
attempts,  he  devises  a  means  of  escape.  He  finds  a  toad  and  puts 
it  into  a  basket  as  if  it  were  a  precious  jewel  and  brings  it  before 
the  little  people,  who  are  curious  to  see  the  contents;  but  when 
he  opens  it,  and  they  see  the  toad,  they  fall  to  the  ground  in  horror. 

John  tells  them  he  will  take  the  creature  out  of  their  sight,  if 
they  bring  him  three  wagonloads  of  gold  and  jewels.  This  they 
do,  and  Dietrich  then  buries  the  toad  and  makes  his  escape  with 
Elsbeth,  before  the  Trolls  have  time  to  recover  from  their  fright. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        135 

LITERARY  REFERENCES  TO  GERMAN  AUTHORS  AND  WORKS. 

Here  are  included  references,  in  Whittier's  works  or  letters, 
to  German  subjects  which  have  not  been  discussed  in  the  previous 
chapters.  These  references  show  in  many  cases  his  opinions  of 
the  works  or  authors  in  question,  at  other  times  they  are  merely 
references: 

Walther  von  der  Vogelweide. 

"How  pleasant  to  think  of  the  Arab  and  his  horse,  whose 
friendship  has  been  celebrated  in  song  and  romance.  Of  Vogel- 
wied,  the  Minnesinger,  and  his  bequest  to  the  birds."250 

Hans  Sachs. 

Whittier,  who  as  a  young  man,  worked  for  a  time  at  the 
shoe-making  trade,  was  naturally  interested  in  Hans  Sachs,  the 
shoemaker-poet  of  Niirnberg.  He  says  of  him  in  The  Shoe 
maker:2^ 

"Thy  songs,  Hans  Sachs,  are  living  yet, 
In  strong  and  hearty  German." 

Melancthon. 

"But  abhoring,  as  we  must,  persecution  under  whatever  pre 
text  it  is  employed,  we  are  not,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  all 
persecutors  were  bad  and  unfeeling  men.  ...  It  would  not 
be  very  difficult  for  us  to  imagine  a  tender-hearted  Inquisitor  of 
this  stamp,  stifling  his  weak  compassion  for  the  shrieking  wretch 
under  bodily  torment  by  his  strong  pity  for  souls  in  danger  of 
perdition  from  the  sufferer's  heresy.  We  all  know  with  what 
satisfaction  the  gentle-spirited  Melancthon  heard  of  the  burning 
of  Servetus,  and  with  what  zeal  he  defended  it."252 

Friedrich  von  Logan. 

An  article  by  Whittier  on  The  Scottish  Reformers'-**  is  in 
troduced  by  a  translation  from  Logau: 


250  Prose   Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  Ill,  page  243.  Article  on   Our 
Dumb  Relations. 

251  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  357. 

252  Prose   Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  page  128.     Article  on  John 
Roberts. 

-'^  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  page  417. 


136        Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"The  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  but  they  grind  exceeding  small ; 
Though  with  patience  he  stands  waiting,  with  exactness  grinds 
he  all."254 

Wieland. 

Whittier  does  not  mention  the  poet,  Wieland,  but  he  knew 
and  criticised  at  length  Charles  Brockden  Brown's  novel  Wie 
land^  which  bears,  perhaps  not  merely  by  chance,  the  name 
of  the  German  poet.  He  mentions  the  book  also  in  his  Review256 
of  Retribution,  by  Mrs.  Southworth :  "But  as  a  whole  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  worthy  of  a  place  with  Brockden  Brown's 
Wieland,  etc." 

Lavater. 

Whittier  expresses  himself  vigorously  against  the  philosophy 
of  the  physiognomist,  Lavater,  and  his  school: 

"I  hate  your  professed  physiognomist — the  man  who  reads 
at  a  glance  the  character  of  his  neighbor — decyphering  with  ease 
the  mystic  meaning  of  the  human  features — those  heroglyphics 
of  the  Almighty.  I  abhor  the  idea  of  a  man's  carrying  his  auto 
biography  in  his  visage — the  melancholy  history  of  a  love  adven 
ture  in  the  droop  of  an  eye-lid,  or  the  prominence  of  a  cheek  bone, 
or  a  tale  of  disappointment  in  the  wrinkles  of  a  forehead.  I  con 
demn  in  toto  the  systems  of  Lavater,  Gall,  and  Spurzheim.257 
Tis  an  unmanly  method  of  coming  at  one's  private  history.  The 
beautiful  and  lordly — those  who  carry  an  eternal  letter  of  recom 
mendation  in  their  countenance — may,  perhaps,  demur  to  my 
opinions.  Let  them.  Phrenology  may  have  been  a  blessing  to 
them;  it  has  been  the  devil  and  all  to  me. 


*4  Logau's  verses  are  : 

"Gottes  Miihlen  mahlen  langsam, 

Mahlen  aber  trefflich  klein, 
Ob  aus  Langmut  er  sich  saumet, 

Bring!  mit  Scharf  er  alles  ein." 

265  Whittle/ s  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  III.   Article  on  Fanat 
icism,  pages  392-395- 

256  National  Era,  September  20,  1849. 

257  In  the  Harerhill  Iris,  November  24,   1832,  edited  by  Whittier,   is  the 
notice  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Gaspard  F.  Spurzheim,  the  distinguished  phrenolo 
gist  and  philosophical  lecturer,  "who  died  amongst  us".    "A  eulogy  was  pro 
nounced  by  Professor  Pollen  of  the  Theological  Institution  of  Harvard." 


Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        137 

"As  Balak  said  of  old  unto  Balaam, — so  I  say  unto  all,  who, 
like  myself  have  been  martyrs  to  the  sciences  of  bumps,  organs, 
and  facial  angles.  .  .  .  Physiognomy  and  Phrenology — 
'Come,  help  me  to  curse  them/  Nay,  smile  not  at  my  vehemence, 
fair  reader ;  those  least  of  all  can  appreciate  my  feelings.  As  thou 
bendest  over  my  page,  with  thine  eye  shedding  a  finer  light  across 
it  than  ever  brightened  the  illuminated  scroll  of  a  monkish 
legend — with  thy  dark  tresses  ever  and  anon  lightly  sweeping 
its  margin,  and  half-shadowing  the  delicate  fingers  which  enclose 
it,  the  veriest  mocker  at  humanity  would  bless  thee,  and  the 
austere  St.  Francis,  at  the  first  glimpse  of  thee,  would  have  for 
saken  his  bride  of  snow.  But  I,  marked  and  set  apart  from  my 
fellows,  the  personification  of  ugliness,  in  whose  countenance 
every  modern  Lavater  discovers  all  that  is  vile  and  disagreeable 
and  odious ;  shunned  by  the  lovelier  and  gentler  sex,  and  suspected 
and  laughed  at  by  my  own ;  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sensitive, 
why  should  I  not  murmur  at  the  practice  of  an  art  which  has 
undone  me,  at  the  illustration  of  a  silence  which  has  shut  the  door 
of  human  sympathy  upon  me!"258 

THE  TRAVELS  OF  MUNCHAUSEN. 
A  New  Year's  Address  to  the  Patrons  of  The  Essex  Gazette.260 

"And  bridges,  now  in  gloomy  grandeur  straddle 
The  chainless  tide,  that  rolls  itself  below ; 

But,  like  a  horse,  vex'd  with  an  extra  saddle, 
Old  Merrimack  threatens  with  an  overthrow, 

That  famous  one,  which  beats  Munchausen's261  hollow, 
Since  but  the  sight  oft  costs  us  half  a  dollar." 

In  a  letter262  to  his  publisher  Fields,  Whittier  says:  "What 
ever  poetical  fancies  garnered  up  in  more  genial  weather  may  be 


**New  England  Magazine,  August,  1832.    Article,  The  Nervous  Man,  by 
John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  97. 

*m  Essex  Gazette,  Haverhill,  Mass.,  January  5,  1825. 

261  Wunderbare  Reisen  zu  Wasser  und  Lande  des  Freyherrn  von  Miinch- 
hausen   was   published    in    England,    in    English,    by   the    German,    Professor 
Rudolph  Erich  Raspe,  1786,  and  was  translated  by  Burger,  the  following  year, 
into  German. 

262  Pickard's  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  page  378. 


138        Whittier  s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

left  within  me,  they  are  frozen  up  before  reaching  my  finger  tips, 
like  the  tunes  in  Munchausen's  horn,  and  I  cannot,  like  the 
veracious  hunter,  get  up  a  fire  sufficient  to  thaw  them  out." 

GERMAN  FABLE. 

Our  poet  was  familiar  with  other  stories  of  fable  and  folk 
lore  :  . 

A  Legend  of  the  Lake. 

"And  the  cares  you  left  behind  you 
Come  hunting  along  your  track, 
As  Blue-Cap  in  German  fable 

Rode  on  the  traveller's  pack,—"263 

BUERGER. 

Whittier  refers  to  Burger's  Lenore  in  his  Magicians  and 
Witch  Folk.  "Of  that  ride  Burger  might  have  written  a  counter 
part  to  his  ballad : 

"Tramp,  tramp,  along  the  shore  they  ride, 
Splash,  splash,  along  the  sea."264 

Lessing. 

In  1853,  Whittier  wrote  a  letter265  to  his  publisher  Fields 
introducing  Lucy  Larcom's  work  to  his  notice:  "I  enclose  what 
I  regard  as  a  very  unique  and  beautiful  little  book  in  MS.  I  don't 
wish  thee  to  take  my  opinion,  but  the  first  leisure  hour  thee  has, 
read  it,  and  I  am  sure  thee  will  decide  it  is  exactly  the  thing  for 
publication.  .  .  .  The  little  prose  poems  are  unlike  anything 
in  our  literature,  and  remind  me  of  the  German  writer,  Lessing." 

Lessing,  Kruniniacher,  Herder. 

Review,266  by  Whittier,  of  Similitudes  from  the  Ocean  and 
Prairie  ( Boston  :  Jewett  &  Co. )  : 


263  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  513. 

964  Vol.  i,  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  411.   This  is  from  Walter 
Scott's  translation.   Scott  has  "land"  instead  of  "shore". 

260  Whittier,  Notes  on  His  Life  and  Friendships,  by  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields. 
366  National  Era,  December  22,  1853. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        139 

"Like  Kriemacher,267  Lessing,  and  Herder — and  often  with 
equal  success — the  writer  has  adopted  the  method  of  imparting 
the  lessons  of  truth  and  wisdom,  which  forms  one  of  the  most 
attractive  features  of  Mohammedan  literature,  and  which  lends 
such  picturesque  beauty  to  the  old  Hebrew  poetry  and  the  para 
bles  of  the  Divine  Teacher." 

Nicolai. 

In  the  New  England  Magazine,  April  18,  1831,  the  editor 
writes,  at  the  end  of  a  story,  published  in  its  pages,  The  Spectre 
Smitten: 

"The  Spectre  which  occasioned  the  fright  which  produced 
delirium,  may  be  considered  as  nothing  more  than  the  phantom 
of  an  over-excited  imagination, — like  those  which  haunted  Nico 
lai — which  puzzled  the  pious  head  of  Wesley;  and  shook  the 
philosophic  nerves  of  Swedenborg." 

In  the  New  England  Review,  March  21,  1831,  a  letter  from 
the  editor  to  the  friend  in  his  editorial  chair,  referring  to  a  num 
ber  of  the  Hartford  Times,  says : 

"How  it  strayed  into  our  quiet  community,  I  know  not,  but 
it  looked  among  its  more  amiable  companions  like  the  Demon  of 
Nicolai  amidst  the  gay  assemblies  of  the  Prussian  capital." 

Schiller. 

That  Whittier  was  familiar  with  Coleridge's  translation  of 
Schiller's  Wallenstein,  we  know  from  an  article  on  Labor — the 
French  Revolution,  in  The  National  Era,268  in  which  he  says : 

"We  accord  entirely  with  the  philosophy  of  reform  indicated 
in  these  lines  of  Coleridge's  Wallenstein: 

"Straight  forward  goes 

The  lightnings  path,  and  straight  the  fearful  path 
Of  the  cannon  ball.   Direct  it  flies,  and  rapid, 
Shattering  that  it  may  reach,  and  shattering  what  it  reaches. 
My  son,  the  road  the  human  being  travels — 
That  on  which  blessing  comes  and  goes — doth  follow 
The  river's  course,  the  valley's  playful  windings — 


17  Misspelling  for  Krummacher. 

18  National  Era,  April  27,  1848. 


140        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Curves  round  the  corn  fields  and  the  hill  of  vines, 

Honoring  the  holy  bounds  of  property ! 

And  thus  secure,  though  late,  leads  to  its  end." 

In  the  Miscellany  column  of  The  Essex  Gazette,2™  of  which 
Whittier  was  editor,  appeared  the  translation,  Duke  Alvas  Break 
fast  at  the  Castle  of  Rudolstadt,  translated  from  the  papers  of 
Schiller  for  The  Portsmouth  Journal. 

Alexander  von  Humboldt. 

In  an  article  on  The  Abolitionists,210  Whittier  refers  the 
reader,  among  other  books,  to  Humbolclt's  Travels,  to  confirm 
his  statement  that, — "Wherever,  whether  in  Europe,  the  East  and 
the  West  Indies,  South  America,  or  in  our  own  country,  a  fair 
experiment  has  been  made  of  the  comparative  expense  of  free 
and  slave  labour,  the  result  has  uniformly  been  favorable  to  the 
former". 

Jean  Paul  Richter,  Krummacher. 

In  an  article  on  Nathaniel  Peabody  Rogers211  he  writes : 

"The  admirers  of  Jean  Paul  Richter  might  find  much  of  the 
charm  and  variety  of  the  'Flower,  Fruit,  and  Thorn  Pieces'  in 
this  newspaper  collection." 

In  The  Middlesex  Standard212  the  editor  prints  a  short 
narrative  called  The  Wasted  Flower,  by  Rotha,  and  remarks : 

"The  following  from  The  Lowell  Offering  for  last  month  is 
worthy  of  Krummacher  or  Jean  Paul." 

In  the  chapter  on  "The  Lighting  Up",  in  The  Stranger  in 
Lowell,21*  Whittier  says : 

"The  Lowell  Offering,  which  has  been  for  the  last  four 
years  published  monthly  in  this  city,  consisting  entirely  of  articles 


w  Essex  Gazette,  November  15,  1836. 

919  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  Ill,  page  74. 

271  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  II,  page  238. 

272  October  31,  1844. 

""Published  by  Waiter,  Peirce  &  Company,  1845,  pages  115-123.  These 
articles  first  appeared  in  the  Essex  Transcript.  In  Whittier's  collected  works, 
Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  I,  page  379,  The  Lighting  Up,  the  reference  to  Jean 
Paul  is  omitted. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        141 

written  by  females  employed  in  the  mills,  has  attracted  much 
attention  and  obtained  a  wide  circulation. 

"This  may  be  in  part  owing  to  the  novel  circumstances  of 
its  publication ;  but  it  is  something  more  and  better  than  a  mere 
novelty.  In  its  volumes  may  be  found  sprightly  delineations  of 
home-scenes  and  characters,  highly  wrought  imaginative  pieces, 
tales  of  genuine  pathos  and  humor,  and  sweet  fairy  stories  and 
fables,  reminding  the  reader,  at  times,  of  Jean  Paul." 

Holthaus. 

In  The  Middlesex  Standard  for  November  14,  1844,  of 
which  Whittier  was  editor,  appears : 

"The  following  review  of  a  singular  and  interesting  book 
we  copy  from  The  London  Non-Conformist:  Wanderings  of  a 
Journeyman  Tailor  Through  Europe  and  the  East,  During  the 
Years  1824  to  1840,  by  P.  D.  Holthaus.  Journeyman  Tailor 
from  Werdohle,  Westphalia.  Translated  from  the  German  by 
W.  Howitt.  Longman  &  Company,  1844." 

Auerbach. 

An  unpublished  letter274  from  Whittier  to  Mrs.  J.  F.  Fields, 
dated  Amesbury,  12  mo.  17,  1861,  says: 

"Tell  J.  T.  F.  I  have  read  Auerbach's  story  of  Gellert  and 
find  it  very  touching  and  beautiful,  deserving  all  he  said  of  it." 

HISTORY  AND  HISTORICAL  CHARACTERS. 

Teuton. 

In  Child  Songs:21* 

"Heard  in  the  Teuton's  household  songs, 

And  folk-lore  of  the  Finn, 
Where'er  to  holy  Christmas  hearths 
The  Christ-child  enters  in!" 

Anabaptists  of  Minister. 
Article  on  The  World's  End:2™ 


274  Original  letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields,  Boston. 

275  Cambridge  Edition  of  Poetical  Works,  page  454. 

"'Prose  Works,  Vol.  I,  page  422.    Article  on  The  World's  End. 


142        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

''Think  of  the  wild  enthusiasts  of  Minister,  verily  imagining 
that  the  millenial  reign  had  commenced  in  their  mad  city !" 

Sack  of  Magdeburg. 

Article  on  Indian  Civilization:277 

"What  Indian  raid  has  been  more  dreadful  than  the  Sack  of 
Magdeburg,  the  massacre  of  Glencoe,  the  nameless  atrocities  of 
the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands,  the  murders  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  day,  the  unspeakable  agonies  of  the  South  of 
France  under  the  demoniac  rule  of  revolution!" 

Battle  of  Lutzen. 
In  poem  Barclay  of  Ury:278 

"Call  ye  Coward  him  who  stood 
Ankle  deep  in  Littzen's  blood 
With  the  brave  Gustavus?" 

Tilly. 
In  the  same  poem  :27Q 

"Speak  the  word,  and,  master  mine, 
As  we  charged  on  Tilly's  line, 

And  his  Walloon  lancers, 
Smiting  through  their  midst  we'll  teach 
Civil  look  and  decent  speech 

To  these  boyish  prancers !" 

Prussia. 

"Laugh,  Prussia,  midst  thy  iron  ranks ! 
Laugh,  Russia,  from  thy  Neva's  banks! 
Brave  sport  to  see  the  fledgling  born 
Of  freedom  by  its  parent  torn! 
Safe  now  in  Speilberg's  dungeon  cell, 
Safe  drear  Siberia's  frozen  hell : 
With  Slavery's  flag  o'er  both  unrolled, 
What  of  the  New  World  fears  the  Old?"280 


277  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  Ill,  page  235. 

278  Poetical  Works,  page  34,  Cambridge  Edition. 

279  Poetical  Works,  page  34,  Cambridge  Edition. 

wo  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  Poem  on  Yorktown,  page  303. 


Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        143 

Frederick  the  Great. 

"Frederick  of  Prussia,281  apostrophizing  the  shades  of  Cato 
and  Brutus, 

'Vous  de  la  liberte  heros  que  je  revere/ 

while  in  full  exercise  of  his  despotic  power,  was  quite  as  con 
sistent  as  these  democratic  slave-owners,  whose  admiration  of 
liberty  increased  in  exact  ratio  with  its  distance  from  their  own 
plantations." 

In  The  New  England  Review,  February  7,  1831,  is  a  notice 
in  the  column  for  Foreign  News : 

Prussia: — "It  is  stated  that  a  Revolution  has  commenced  in 
Prussia.  An  insurrection,  of  which  the  details  are  not  yet  known, 
has  undoubtedly  taken  place  at  Konigsburg.  The  King  learned 
of  the  revolt  of  Warsaw,  and  the  disturbances  at  Konigsburg, 
perhaps  at  the  same  moment ;  30,000  troops  are  marching  on  Lux 
emburg,  an  army  advances  towards  Poland  (Polen),  and  more 
troops  are  required  in  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Kingdom." 

Saxony. 

In  The  New  England  Review,  November  8,  1831,  under 
Foreign  News,  is  an  account  of  a  revolution  in  Saxony,  and  the 
abdication  of  King  Maximilian. 

In  The  Essex  Gazette  of  9  mo.,  10,  1836,  is  a  short  notice 
telling  of  the  "bigotry  of  the  late  King  of  Saxony". 

MENT  OF  SCIENCE. 
Priessnite. 

"Such  we  know  to  be  the  case  with  Dr.  Holmes.  He  was 
born  for  the  laughter  cure',  as  certainly  as  Priessnitz  was  for  the 
'water  cure',  and  has  been  quite  as  successful  in  his  way,  while 
his  prescriptions  are  infinitely  more  agreeable."2 

In  The  Stranger  in  Lowell  he  says  again  of  the  noted  phy 
sician  of  the  "water  cure" : 


281  Prose  Works  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  Riverside  Edition,  Vol.  Ill, 
page  114.    Article  on  Democracy  and  Slavery. 

282  Vol.  Ill,  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  377'.     Article  on  Mirth 
and  Medicine. 


144        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"But  this  dull,  dark  autumn  day  of  thaw  and  rain — when  the 
very  clouds  seem  too  pitiless  and  languid  to  storm  outright,  or 
take  themselves  out  of  the  way  of  fair  weather — wet  beneath  and 
above — reminding  one  of  that  rayless  atmosphere  of  Dante's 
Third  Circle,  where  the  infernal  Priessnitz  administers  his  hydro 
pathic  torment : 

"  'A  heavy,  cursed  and  relentless  drench, — 
The  land  it  soaks  is  putrid.' ' 

Professor  von  Liebig. 

In  The  Middlesex  Standard  of  January  16,  1845,  there  is 
an  extract  quoted,  as  the  editor  says  in  a  note,  "from  a  speech  of 
this  distinguished  gentleman  at  a  recent  dinner  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland". 

MUSICIANS. 
Beethoven. 

In  an  article  on  Reading  for  the  Blind:283 
"What  visions  of  beauty  and  sublimity  passed  before  the 
inward  and  spiritual  sight  of  blind  Milton  and  Beethoven!" 

REFERENCES  TO  GERMAN  SCENERY. 
Our  River:284 

"We  know  that  Arno's  banks  are  fair, 
And  Rhine  has  castled  shadows," 

The  Panorama:285 

"Arch,  tower,  and  gate,  grotesquely  windowed  hall, 
And  long  escarpment  of  half-crumbled  wall, 
Huger  than  those  which,  from  steep  hills  of  vine, 
Stare  through  their  loopholes  on  the  travelled  Rhine." 

He  refers  again  to  the  Rhine  in  The  Valley  of  the 
Merrimac:286 


*8  Vol.  Ill,  Prose  Works,  Riverside  Edition,  page  236. 
394  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  224. 
285  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  324. 
288  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  485. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        145 

"And  fair  streams  may  glide  where  the  climate  is  milder, 
Where  winter  ne'er  gathers  and  spring  ever  blooms, 

And  others  may  roll  where  the  region  is  wilder, 
Their  dark  waters  hid  in  some  forest's  deep  gloom, 

Where  the  thunder-scath'd  peaks  of  Helvetia  are  frowning, 
And  the  Rhine's  rapid  waters  encircle  their  bases," 

In  Remembrance  of  Joseph  Sturge281  he  speaks  of  "Hoi- 
stein's  birchen-belted  meadows". 

WHITTIER  IN  GERMAN  LITERATURE. 

There  does  not  exist  in  German  a  translation  of  Whittier's 
works  as  a  whole,  but  there  are  several  good  translations  of  some 
of  his  best  known  poems.  Though  he  has  not  been  widely  known 
or  read  in  Germany,  he  has  been  appreciated  by  a  few,  whom  his 
simple  and  sincere  words  could  not  fail  to  attract.  He  is  men 
tioned  with  appreciation  in  some  of  the  German  histories  of 
American  literature. 

An  article  in  Vom  Pels  zum  Meer288  about  Whittier  is  entitled 
Der  Theokrit  des  Westen,  This  article,  written  by  M.  Ott fried, 
in  1893,  the  year  after  the  poet's  death,  speaks  of  Whittier  with 
the  highest  appreciation  :  "In  seinen  Dichtungen  offenbart  sich  eine 
Innigkeit  und  Zartheit  der  Empfindung,  eine  Warme  und  Teife 
des  Gefiihles,  welche  abwechselnd  im  zartesten  Schmelz  der  lyri- 
schen  Stimmung,  wie  in  kerniger  Kraft  und  Scharfe  der  Bered- 
samkeit,  und  in  der  wohlklingendsten  Form  zum  Ausdruck  kommt 
und  an  Innigkeit  und  Einfachheit  wohl  kaum  iibertroffen  werden 
kann.  .  .  .  Dazu  ist  seine  Dichtung  nach  Stoff,  Gehalt  und 
Ausdruck  eine,  wie  wir  schon  erwahnten,  spezifisch  amerikani- 
sche;  er  ist  der  eigentiimlichste  Dichter,  welchen  Amerika  her- 
vorgebracht  hat." 

An  unpublished  letter289  from  Annie  Fields  from  Barbizon, 
France^  dated  July  10,  1892,  is  of  especial  interest  as  showing  the 
esteem  in  which  Whittier  was  held  by  some  of  his  contemporaries. 
She  writes: 


287  Cambridge  Edition  of  Whittier's  Poems,  page  199. 

**  Vom  Pels  zum  Meer,  12-14,  J.  12.    1893.   Bd.  II,  S.  243. 

289  The  original  of  this  letter  is  in  the  Whittier  home  at  Amesbury,  Mass. 


146        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

"I  am  sending  a  paper,  which  has  been  sent  me  by  Herman 
Grimm  of  Berlin  with  the  request  that  you  would  kindly  write 
your  name  at  the  end  of  the  printed  list  of  names.  It  is  a  tribute 
Germany  wishes  to  pay  to  the  Grand  Duchess  upon  her  silver 
wedding  clay  in  October,  because  she  has  taken  great  care  of  all 
the  Goethe  memorials.  After  writing  on  the  paper,  will  you  let 
Phoebe  address  an  envelope  to  Professor  Grimm,  whose  name  is 
in  the  list  with  his  full  address,  and  mail  your  autograph  signature 
directly  to  him.  I  fear  this  will  seem  ?.  great  bore,  but  I  believe 
only  two  or  three  American  names  are  to  be  added  to  the  list — 
yours  and  Dr.  Holmes.  I  do  not  know  surely  of  any  others. 
Professor  Grimm  does  not  write  English  easily  and  feels  shy  of 
doing  so  at  all  to  persons  he  does  not  know  very  well." 

TRANSLATIONS  OF  WHITTIER'S  POEMS  INTO  GERMAN. 

Besides  the  translations  already  mentioned  of  Maud  Mul- 
ler*  Barbara  Frietchie*  The  Song  of  the  Slaves  in  the  Desert? 
Clerical  Oppressors?  and  The  Homestead?  there  are  translations 
of  the  following  poems : 

Snowbound,  Eingeschneit™  by  Karl  Knortz. 

Seed-time  and  Harvest,  Aussaat  und  Ernte,291  by  Adolf 
Strodtman. 

Winterbildcr,  D'dmmcrungsbilder2*2  and  The  Cable  Hymn, 
Der  Atlantische  Telegraph,™  all  by  E.  O.  Hopp. 

The  Worship  of  Nature,  Die  Andacht  dcr  Natur,2^  by  Karl 
Elze. 

Knortz  in  his  translation  of  Snowbound,  unfortunately  uses 
hexameter  instead  of  Whittier's  iambic  tetrameter,  thus  requir- 


a  See  page  61. 
b  See  page  71. 
c  See  page  40  and  note  43. 
d  See  page  76. 
e  See  page  73. 

290  K.  Knortz,  Zwei  amerikanische  Idyllen,  Berlin,  1879. 
381  Adolf  Strodtman,  Amerikanische  Anthologie,  Leipzig,  page  125. 
883  England  and  Amerika,  herausgegeben  von  Julius  Hart,  Minden,  1888. 
m  Von  beiden  Ufern  des  Atlantik,  herausgegeben  von  W.  Prinzhorn,  1894, 
page  418. 

894  Karl  Elze,  Gedichte,  Halle,  1878,  page  331. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        147 

ing  the  use  of  many  extra  words,  and  making  the  translation 
heavy  and  dragging. 

For  Whittier's : 

"The  sun  that  brief  December  day 
Rose  cheerless  over  hills  of  gray. 
And,  darkly  circled,  gave  at  noon 
A  sadder  light  than  waning  moon." 

Knortz  has : 

"Matten  Schein  warf  die  Sonne  am  kurzen  Tag  im  December 
LTber  graues  Gebirg;  und  Mittags  mit  dunkelm  Kreise 
War  noch  schwacher  ihr  Licht  als  das  des  Monds,  wenn  er  ab- 
nimmt." 

E.  O.  Hopp's  translation  of  The  Cable  Hymn  is  well  done. 

"O  einsame  Bucht  von  Trinity, 

O  odes  Uferland, 
Beug'  betend  dich  zu  Boden  hie ; 
Hor'  Gottes  Ruf  am  Strand!" 

Karl  Elze's  Andacht  der  Natur  is  not  a  literal  translation, 
but  a  paraphrase  of  Whittier's  The  Worship  of  Nature.  Elze 
uses  the  same  meter  as  our  poet,  but  has  only  nine  stanzas  in  his 
poem,  while  Whittier  has  ten. 

Dammerungsbild,  by  E.  O.  Hopp,  is  the  translation  of  a 
selection  from  Whittier's  Mountain  Pictures,  Part  II — Monad- 
nock  from  Wachussett — beginning : 

"So  twilight  deepens " 

to: 


The  pastoral  curfew  of  the  cowbell  rung.' 


'295 


**  Whittier's  Poems,  Cambridge  Edition,  page  156. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

THE  EVERLASTING  TAPER. 
By  J.  G.  Whittier. 

"Previous  to  the  first  revolution  in  France,  in  the  ancient 
town  of  Amiens,  among  other  marvels  and  curiosities,  the 
stranger  was  certain  of  being  edified  with  the  holy  candle,  or 
everlasting  taper — which  had  burned  for  two  centuries  in  a  dim 
niche  of  the  moss-grown  church, — unwasting  as  the  brilliance  of 
a  star — shedding  forever  the  same  pale  light  upon  the  antique 
and  fretted  ceiling,  and  on  the  half  ruined,  but  still  gorgeous  altar, 
whence  a  thousand  masses  had  gone  up  for  the  quiet  sleeping  of 
those,  'whose  places  shall  know  them  no  more  forever'. 

"The  stranger,  while  mingling  with  the  crowd  who  on  certain 
days  were  allowed  to  witness  this  miraculous  taper,  might  easily 
learn  the  story  of  its  origin.  From  the  corpulent  monk  to  the  lean 
and  meagre  artisan,  all  knew  it  by  heart.  It  is  an  old  narration, 
and  would  figure  well  in  an  improved  edition  of  the  doings  of 
Faust's  Mephistopholes. 

"Two  or  three  centuries  ago  there  lived  in  the  town  a  car 
penter  by  the  name  of  Christopher, — a  hard  working,  but  poverty 
stricken  mechanic.  Finding  his  utmost  exertions  inadequate  to 
the  support  of  himself  and  family,  he  resolved — and  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  worldly  wisdom  in  his  resolution — to  better  his 
fortune  in  this  life,  even  if  by  so  doing  he  might  incur  the  risk 
of  faring  something  worse  in  the  next.  Christopher,  who  was  a 
punctual  attendant  at  church,  had  often  heard  his  pastor  expatiate 
upon  the  exceeding  power  of  the  Arch  Enemy  of  Man,  and  upon 
his  willingness  and  ability  to  reward  with  temporal  riches  those 
who  yielded  up  to  him  the  small  matter  of  a  mortgage  of  their 
souls.  Christopher  had  toiled  himself  to  a  skeleton — starvation 
stared  him  in  the  face  and  worse  than  all,  a  new  quality  had 
begun  to  develop  itself  in  his  character,  in  the  shape  of  extreme 


150        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

laziness.  He,  therefore,  upon  mature  deliberation,  concluded  to 
open  a  sort  of  barter  trade  with  the  Enemy,  and  for  the  peace  of 
his  body  hazard  that  of  his  soul.  He  accordingly  prayed  lustily 
for  the  presence  of  that  being,  from  whose  neighborhood  all  good 
Catholics  and  devout,  ask  deliverance.  The  Devil,  whether  en 
gaged  in  other,  and  more  profitable  speculations,  or  from  a 
presentiment  of  ill-luck,  did  not  readily  answer  the  diabolical 
petitions  of  the  carpenter;  but  tired  at  last  with  the  continued 
importunities  of  Christopher,  he  one  evening  made  his  appearance 
in  the  shape  of  a  respectable  looking  monkey. 

'  'What  would'st  thou  with  me  ?'   said  the  hairy  Demon, 
'thou  hast  been  long  calling.     Speak,  in  what  can  I  serve  thee  ?' 

"  'My  Lord  !'  said  Christopher  bowing  humbly,  'I  am  told 
that  your  Lordship  dispenses  wealth  at  pleasure;  and  should  be 
very  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  a  small  share  of  your  favors !' 

'  'But  what  wilt  thou  give  me  ?'  interrupted  the  Devil. 

"  'Alas — my  Lord!'  said  Christopher,  laying  his  hand  on  his 
heart — 'I  am  miserably  poor.' 

"There  was  a  pathos  in  the  manner  and  tones  of  Christopher 
which  seemed  to  reach  even  the  inexorable  heart  of  Lucifer. 
'Well,  well — '  said  he,  'there's  no  need  of  despondency — I'll 
give  thee  as  much  gold  as  thou  desirest  for  thirty  years — but  after 
that  time,  having  an  occasion  for  a  carpenter  to  make  some 
trifling  repairs  in  my  infernal  palace,  I  shall  come  myself  and 
conduct  thee  thither/ 

"There  was  so  much  apparent  candor  and  frankness  in  this 
proposition  that  Christopher  without  hesitation  signed  the  con 
tract  ;  and  the  Infernal  Bargainer  made  a  spring  up  the  chimney 
and  vanished.  Christopher  wished  for  a  thousand  pistoles  and  the 
sum  was  the  next  instant  in  his  pockets — he  continued  his  wishes 
and  they  were  all  gratified — never  was  Devil  more  punctual.  In 
short,  Christopher  began  to  believe  that  the  sooty  dignitary  had 
been  most  maliciously  belied  and  slandered — it  absolutely  pained 
his  heart  to  hear  him  abused — and  he  even  quareled  with  his  good 
friend,  the  Abbot,  for  handling  his  Satanic  Generalship  without 
gloves  in  one  of  his  sermons. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        151 

"One  night — the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  his  Satanic  bar 
gain,  the  now  wealthy  and  highly  respected  Christopher  was  sit 
ting  in  company  with  a  large  number  of  friends,  enjoying  a  social 
chat  amidst  the  clatter  of  glasses,  and  the  pouring  of  wine.  Chanc 
ing  to  send  his  servant  for  a  particular  and  rare  wine  in  his  cellar, 
he  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  fellow's  returning  without  it, — 
and  informing  him  that  a  large  black  man  sat  upon  the  cask, 
desiring  to  speak  with  the  master  of  the  house.  The  nerves  of 
Christopher  shook  for  a  minute — for  he  thought  of  his  infernal 
customer — but  resolving  to  prepare  for  the  worst,  and  knowing 
that  but  half  his  lease  had  expired — he  took  the  bond  in  his 
hand,  and  boldly  sallied  down  stairs.  It  was  the  Devil  sure  enough. 
There  he  sat  sullenly  on  the  wine  cask 

'  'A  towsy  tyke,  black,  grim  and  large.'  He  lifted  his  head 
as  Christopher  entered  and  scowled  on  him  through  his  shaggy 
eye-brows  like  the  glare  of  a  comet  through  a  thunder  cloud. 

"  'I  am  come  for  you,'  he  said.  Christopher  held  out  his 
bond  and  laughed — the  Devil  mocked  him. 

'You  are  mistaken — 'tis  but  fifteen  years  as  yet — the  lease 
is  half  out.' 

"Again  the  Devil  laughed,  and  a  most  infernal  cacchination 
he  made  of  it.  'You  are  mistaken,'  he  returned,  'fifteen  years  of 
days  and  fifteen  years  of  nights,  make  thirty  years — according  to 
my  arithmetic.  So  prepare  yourself.' 

"It  was  in  vain  that  Christopher  remonstrated — the  Devil 
was  inexorable.  One  request  only  the  'all  pitiless  demon'  granted. 
His  victim  was  allowed  a  brief  half  hour  to  bid  his  friends  fare 
well.  With  a  heavy  heart  Christopher  ascended,  and  told  his 
friends  of  his  misfortune.  All  were  for  a  moment  struck  dumb 
with  grief,  not  for  the  loss  of  Christopher,  but  for  the  loss  of  his 
excellent  wine  and  delicate  viands.  A  plethoric  little  friar  at 
length  advised  Christopher  to  return  to  the  demon  and  ask  per 
mission  to  live,  while  the  taper  he  held  in  his  hand  continued  to 
burn.  A  drowning  man  will  catch  at  straws,  and  Christopher 
obeyed.  The  demon  for  once  was  lenient,  and  like  the  cat  playing 
with  its  victim,  he  allowed  the  carpenter  a  momentary  respite. 


152        Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Up  came  the  wretched  bargainer  with  his  candle.  The  friar  seized 
it  with  a  sly  wink  of  the  eye,  and  plunged  it  into  a  basin  of  holy 
water.  A  virtue  was  forthwith  imparted  to  the  taper,  which  pre 
vented  its  wasting ;  and  Belzebub  foiled  in  his  purpose — outwitted 
by  a  crafty  monk — retired  with  a  noise  which  shook  the  building 
like  an  earthquake.  The  monk  placed  the  taper  in  a  niche  of  the 
church,  where  it  burned  on  for  ages. 

Christopher  lived  to  be  a  good  old  age — and  died  peaceably 
in  his  bed,  leaving  his  immense  estate  to  the  convent  of  which  the 
quick  witted  friar  was  a  brother. 

II. 

In  Whittier's  Amesbury  home,  I  found  among  his  books  the 
following  on  German  subjects: 

An  Introduction  to  German  Grammar.  Rev.  Dr.  Wender- 
born.  London,  MDCCXCVII. 

Art  Studies  in  Munich.  Anna  Mary  Howitt.  Boston :  Tick- 
nor,  Reed  &  Fields,  1854. 

The  Sorrows  of  Werther.  Translated  from  the  German  of 
Goethe.  Hartford,  Ct. :  Andrus  &  Judd,  1835. 

The  Fairy  Mythology  of  Various  Countries.  Thomas 
Keightly.  London,  1850.  (This  book  contained  a  chapter  on 
German  fairy  lore. ) 

German  Lyrics.  Charles  F.  Brooks.  Boston :  Ticknor,  Reed 
&  Fields,  1853. 

Goethe's  Faust.  Translated  by  Charles  F.  Brooks.  Boston : 
Ticknor  &  Fields,  1856. 

Lewis'  Life  of  Goethe.   Boston:  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1856. 

Sketches  of  and  from  Jean  Paul  Richter.  London,  1859. 
(Presented  to  John  G.  Whittier  as  a  mark  of  esteem  from  the 
author — Samuel  James  Capper.)  Broughton,  Cumberland,  4  mo., 
1862. 

Zschokke,  Meditations  on  Death  and  Eternity.  Stunden  der 
Andacht,  ascribed  to  Zschokke.  Translated  from  the  German  by 
Frederick  Rowan.  Boston :  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1863. 

Life  of  Jean  Paul  Friedrich  Richter.  Elizabeth  Buckingham 
Lee.  Boston:  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1864. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        153 

The  Camphaner  Thai  and  Other  Writings.  From  the  German 
of  Jean  Paul  Friedrich  Richter.  Boston:  Ticknor  &  Fields,  1864. 

Letters  and  Journals  relating  to  the  War  of  the  American 
Revolution  and  the  Capture  of  the  German  Troops  at  Saratoga. 
By  Mrs.  General  Riedesel.  Translated  from  the  original  German 
by  Wm.  L.  Stone.  Albany,  1867. 

Goethe's  Hermann  and  Dorothea.  Translated  by  Ellen 
Frothingham.  Boston:  Roberts  Bros.,  1870. 

Scheffel's  Gaudeamiis.  Translated  from  the  German  by 
Clias.  G.  Leland.  Boston:  J.  R.  Osgood  &  Co.,  1867. 

Theologia  Germanica.  Edited  by  Dr.  Pfeiffer  from  the  only 
complete  manuscript  known.  Translated  from  the  German  by 
Susanna  Winckworth.  London:  Macmillan  &  Co.,  1874. 

Poems.  Translated  from  the  Spanish  and  German  by  Henry 
Phillips,  Jr.  Philadelphia,  1878. 

William  Penn  in  Germany.  Journal  of  Wm.  Penn  while 
visiting  Holland  and  Germany  in  1677.  Philadelphia,  1878. 

In  and  Around  Berlin.  Minerva  Brace  Norton.  Chicago, 
1889. 

In  the  beautiful  home,  Oak  Knoll,  of  Whittier's  cousin  Mrs. 
A.  J.  Woodman  at  Danvers,  Mass.,  where  the  poet  spent  much 
of  his  time  in  his  later  life,  I  found  among  the  books  in  his  study: 

The  Lives,  Sentiments  and  Sufferings  of  Some  of  the  Re 
formers  and  Martyrs, — Before,  Since  and  Independent  of  the 
Lutheran  Re  formation.  By  William  Hodgson.  Philadelphia,  1867. 

A  Course  of  Lectures  on  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature.  By 
August  Wilhelm  Schlegel.  Translated  by  John  Black.  Revised 
according  to  the  latest  German  edition  by  Rev.  A.  J.  W.  Morrison. 
London,  1871. 

Poems  and  Ballads  of  Goethe.  Translated  by  W.  Edmon- 
stone  Aytoun  and  Theodore  Martin.  New  York :  Holt  &  Williams, 
1871. 

Goethe's  Correspondence  with  a  Child.  Boston :  Ticknor 
&  Fields,  1872. 

The  Pennsylvania  Dutch  and  Other  Essays.  Phebe  Earle 
Gibbons.  Philadelphia:  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1872. 


154        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Bride  of  the  Rhine:  200  Miles  in  a  Mosel  Row-Boat.  By 
George  E.  Waring.  Osgood  &  Co.,  Boston,  1878. 

I  found  also  among  the  books  of  his  cousins,  the  Misses 
Johnson : 

Faust, — A  Tragedy.  By  Bayard  Taylor.  Boston :  Fields  & 
Co.,  1871.  Presented  to  Caroline  C.  Johnson  from  John  G.  Whit- 
tier,  i  mo.,  ist,  1886. 

As  Whittier  gave  away  many  of  his  books  to  his  friends  and 
relatives,  and  some  have  been  sold  at  auction,  there  are  doubtless 
many  more  treating  of  German  literature  that  belonged  to  him, 
to  which  I  have  not  had  access. 

III. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Only  the  books  are  given  here  which  were  actually  made  use 
of  in  writing  this  dissertation,  but  not  by  any  means  all  the  books 
which  were  consulted. 

PERIODICALS  CONTAINING  POEMS,  LETTERS  OR  PROSE  ARTICLES, 

BY  WHITTIER. 

Boston  Statesman.    1827-28. 

The  Boston  Spectator.     1827. 

The  American  Manufacturer.    Boston,  1829. 

Columbia  Star.    Washington,  D.  C.,  1829-32. 

The  Connecticut  Mirror.    1827-30. 

The  Ladies'  Magazine.     1829-32. 

The  Haverhill  Gazette.    Haverhill,  Mass.,  1830. 

The  Haverhill  Iris.     1831-34. 

The  New  England  Review.     Hartford,  Conn.,  1830-31. 

The  New  England  Magazine.     1831-35. 

The  Liberator.     1834-46. 

Essex  Gazette.     Haverhill,  Mass.,  1836. 

The  Democratic  Review.    Washington,  D.  C.,  1837-47. 

The  Emancipator.    New  York,  1837-42. 

Anti-Slavery  Reporter.     New  York,  1837. 

The  Pennsylvania  Freeman.     Philadelphia,  1838-40. 


Whittier' s  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        155 

The  Boston  Daily  Transcript.     1841-60. 

The  Knickerbocker  Magazine.     New  York,  1841. 

The  Middlesex  Standard.    Lowell,  Mass.,  1844. 

The  Essex  Transcript.     1844-46. 

The  National  Era.     1847-60. 

The  Atlantic  Monthly.     1857-90. 

The  Independent.     1859-65. 

St.  Nicholas.     1888. 


COLLECTED  AND  SEPARATE  WORKS  OF  WHITTIER. 

Literary  Remains  of  John  G.  C.  Brainard,  with  Biographical 
Sketch  by  Whittier.  Hartford,  1832. 

Justice  and  Expediency;  or}  Slavery  Considered  With  a 
View  to  Its  Rightful  and  Effectual  Remedy,  Abolition.  Haver- 
hill,  1833. 

Poems  Written  During  the  Progress  of  the  Abolition  Ques 
tion  in  the  United  States  Between  the  Years  1830  and  1838. 
Boston,  1837. 

The  Stranger  in  Lowell.     Boston,  1845. 

Literary  Recreations  and  Miscellanies.     Boston,  1854. 

The  Patience  of  Hope.  By  Dora  Greenwell.  Edited,  with 
an  Introduction,  by  J.  G.  Whittier.  Boston,  1863. 

Child  Life.  A  collection  of  poems.  Edited  by  J.  G.  Whit 
tier.  Illustrated.  Boston,  1871. 

The  Journal  of  John  Woolman.  With  Introduction  by 
J.  G.  Whittier.  Boston,  1872. 

Child  Life  in  Prose.     Edited  by  J.  G.  Whittier.     Boston, 

1874. 

Letters  of  Lydia  Maria  Child.  With  Biographical  Introduc 
tion  by  J.  G.  Whittier.  Boston,  1883. 

The  Writings  of  John  Greenlcaf  Whittier.  Riverside 
Edition.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1888. 

Complete  Poetical  Works  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 
Cambridge  Edition.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1894. 

A  New  Year's  Address  to  Patrons  of  Essex  Gazette,  1828. 
Boston,  1903. 


156        Whittier  s  Relation  to  Gentian  Life  and  Thought 

BIOGRAPHIES,  COMPILATIONS. 

The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  America.  By  Rufus  W.  Griswold. 
Philadelphia,  1856.  (Whittier,  pp.  389-406.) 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  His  Life,  Genius  and  Writings, 
By  W.  Sloane  Kennedy.  Boston,  1882. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  A  Biography.  By  Francis  H. 
Underwood.  Boston,  1884. 

A  Memorial  of  John  G.  Whittier,  From  His  Native  City, 
Haverhill,  Mass.  Published  by  Authority  of  the  City  Council, 
1893. 

Life  of  John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  By  W.  J.  Linton. 
London,  1893. 

Whittier;  Notes  of  His  Life  and  of  His  Friendships.  By 
Mrs.  James  T.  Fields.  New  York,  1893. 

Personal  Recollections  of  John  G.  Whittier.  By  Mary  B. 
Claflin.  New  York,  1893. 

Sketches  From  Concord  and  A  p  pled  ore.  By  Frank  Preston 
Stearns,  1895. 

Whittier,  Prophet,  Seer  and  Man.  By  B.  O.  Flower. 
Boston,  1896. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  By  Richard  Burton,  in  series  of 
Beacon  Biographies.  Boston,  1900. 

Personal  Recollections  of  the  Poet  Whittier.  By  R.  S. 
Rantoul.  Publication  of  Essex  Institute.  Salem,  Mass.,  1901. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  By  T.  W.  Higginson,  in  series  of 
"English  Men  of  Letters."  New  York,  1902. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  By  George  Rice  Carpenter,  in 
series  of  "American  Men  of  Letters."  Boston,  1903. 

Whittier -Land,  containing  Anecdotes  of  and  Poems  by 
Whittier  not  previously  collected.  By  S.  T.  Pickard.  Boston, 
1904. 

Reminiscences  of  John  G.  Whit  tier's  Life  at  Oak  Knoll, 
Danvers,  Mass.  By  Mrs.  Abbey  J.  Woodman.  Salem  Mass., 
1908. 

Whittier  Correspondence.  By  John  Albree.  Salem,  Mass., 
1911. 


Whittiers  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        157 

PERIODICALS   FOR   REFERENCE   ON   WHITTIER. 

Vom  Pels  sum  Meer.     1893.    Bd.  2,  S.  243. 
The  Dial.     No.  43,  p.  408. 
The  Arena.     Vol.  10,  p.  153. 
Methodist  Review.     No.  55,  p.  245. 
The  Catholic  World.     Vol.  75,  p.  353. 
New  World.     Vol.  2,  p.  88. 

GERMAN  AMERICANS. 

The  Works  of  Charles  Pollen,  With  a  Memoir  of  His  Life 
in  Five  Volumes.  By  his  wife.  Boston,  1842. 

The  German  Element  in  the  United  States.  By  Albert 
Bernhardt  Faust.  Vol.  2.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1909. 

Die  Deutschen  in  dem  Amerikanischcn  Biirgerkrieg.  (1861- 
65.)  von  Wilhelm  Kaufmann,  1911. 

BAYARD  TAYLOR. 

Life  and  Letters  of  Bayard  Taylor.  By  Marie  Hansen 
Taylor  and  Horace  E.  Scudder.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1884. 

Bayard  Taylor.  By  Albert  H.  Smyth.  American  Men  of 
Letters.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1896. 

GERMANS  OF  GERMANTOWN,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Der  Deutsche  Pioneer.    April  and  May,  1872. 

The  German  Mystics  as  American  Colonists.  By  Robert 
Ellis  Thompson.  The  Perm  Monthly,  August  and  October,  1871 ; 

Francis  Daniel  Pastor-ins.  By  Dr.  Oswald  Seidensticker. 
The  Penn  Monthly,  January  and  February,  1872. 

The  Settlement  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  By  Hon. 
Samuel  Pennypacker.  Philadelphia,  1899. 

The  Life  of  Francis  Daniel  Pastorius.  By  Marion  Dexter 
Learned.  Philadelphia,  1908. 

DUNKERS. 

The  Pennsylvania  Dutch  and  Other  Essays.  By  Phebe 
Earle  Gibbons.  Philadelphia,  1882. 


158        Whit  tier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

Chronicon  Ephratense.  By  Lamech  and  Agrippa.  Trans 
lated  by  J.  Max  Hark,  1889. 

The  German  Sectarians  of  Pennsylvania,  1798-1842.  By 
Julius  Friedrich  Sachse.  Philadelphia,  1889. 

A  History  of  the  German  Baptist  Brethren  in  Europe  and 
America.  By  Martin  Grove  Brumbaugh.  1890. 

The  German  Sectarians  of  Pennsylvania,  1742-1800.  By 
Julius  Friedrich  Sachse.  Philadelphia,  1900. 

Music  of  the  Ephrata  Cloister.  By  Julius  Friedrich  Sachse. 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  1903. 

Bibliography  of  Church  Music  Books  issued  in  Pennsylvania. 
Articles  in  Penn.  Germania.  By  James  Warrington.  1912. 

KEEZAR. 
The  History  of  Haverhill,  Mass.   By  B.  L.  Mirick.    1832. 

BARBARA  FRITCHIE. 

Life  of  Whittier's  Heroine,  Barbara  Frit  chic.  By  Henry  M. 
Nixdorf.  1887. 

Barbara  Fritchie,  a  Study.  By  Caroline  H.  Ball.  Boston, 
1892. 

Article  on  Barbara  Fritchie.  The  Sun,  Sunday,  August  12, 
1912. 

GOETHE. 

Goethe  Jahrbuch.   Bd.  25,  S.  233. 

Karl  Kiesewetter,  Faust  in  der  Geschichte  und  Tradition. 
Leipzig,  1893. 

Catalogue  of  Anderson  Auction  Co.'s  Sale  of  Literary 
Property.  February  6,  1903. 

C.  J.  P.  SPITTA. 

C.  J.  P.  Spitta's  Gedichte,  Psalter  und  Plarfe.  ].  Kohler. 
Philadelphia,  1888. 

Dictionary  of  Hynmology.  Edited  by  John  Julian,  D.D. 
Rev.  Ed.  Published  by  John  Murray.  London,  1907. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought        159 

JOHANNES  RONGE. 

John  Ronge,  The  Holy  Coat  of  Treves  and  the  New  German 
Catholic  Church.  New  York,  1845. 

Life  of  Johannes  Ronge.   London,  1846. 

MYSTICISM. 

Deutsche  My  sticker  des  iqten  Jahrhunderts.  Von  Franz 
Pfeiffer.  2  Bde.  Leipzig,  1845. 

The  History  and  Life  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Tauter  zvith 
Twenty-five  of  his  Sermons.  By  Susanna  Winckworth.  Lon 
don,  1857. 

The  Penn  Monthly.   1879. 

Jacob  Boehrne,  Sein  Leben  und  seine  theosophischen  Werke. 
Von  Johannes  Claasen.  3  Bde,  Stuttgart,  1885. 

The  Life  and  Doctrines  of  Jacob  Boehme.  By  Franz  Hart- 
man.  Boston,  1891. 

Studies  in  Mystical  Religion.  By  Rufus  M.  Jones.  London, 
1909. 

TRANSCENDENTALISM. 

The  Poets  of  Transcendentalism,  An  Anthology.  By  George 
Willis  Cooke.  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1903. 

ELIZABETH  FRY  AND  ST.  ELIZABETH. 

Memoir  of  the  Life  of  Elisabeth  Fry  vvith  Extracts  from 
her  Journal  and  Letters.  By  her  two  daughters.  2  Vols.  Philadel 
phia,  1847. 

Proceedings  at  the  Unveiling  of  a  Bust  of  Elizabeth  Frv  at 
the  Friends  School.  Providence,  R.  I.,  1885. 

The  Two  Elisabeths.   By  Augustine  Jones.    1900. 

E.  M.  ARNDT. 

Ernst  Moritz  Arndts  Marchen.    Berlin,  1818. 
The  Fairy  Mythology  of  Various  Countries.  By  Thomas 
Keightly.   London,  1850. 


160        Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought 

HISTORIES  OF  LITERATURE. 

Geschichte  der  Litteratur  Nordamerikas.  Von  Edward  En- 
gel,  Leipzig. 

German  Literature  in  American  Magazines  Prior  to  1846. 
By  Scott  Holland  Goodnight,  University  of  Wisconsin.  Diss, 
1907. 

A  History  of  German  Literature.  By  John  G.  Robertson. 
New  York,  1908. 

Literary  History  of  America.  By  Barrett  Wendell.  New 
York,  1911. 

GERMAN  ANTHOLOGIES  AND  WORKS  CONTAINING  TRANSLATIONS 
OF  WHITTIER'S  POEMS. 

Adolph  Strodtmann,  Lieder  und  Balladenbuch.  Hamburg, 
1862. 

Adolph  Strodtmann,  Amerikanische  Anthologie.    Leipzig. 

J.  Noroth,  Blilten  der  cnglischcn  und  amerikanischen  Poesie. 
Boston,  1874. 

Ernst  O.  Hopp,  Unter  dem  Sternenbanncr.  Bromberg,  1877. 

Karl  Elze,  Gedichte.  Halle,  1878. 

Karl  Knortz,  Zivei  Amerikanische  Idyllen.   Berlin,  1879. 

Karl  Knortz,  Poeticher  Hausschatz  der  Nordamerikaner. 
Oldenburg  und  Leipzig. 

Julius  Hart,  England  und  Amcrika.  Minden,  1885. 

Johann  Straubenmiiller,  Herbstroscn,  Gesammelte  Gedichte. 
New  York,  1889. 

Wilhelmine  Prinzhorn,  Von  beiden  Ufern  des  Atlantik. 
Halle,  1894. 

The  Pennsylvania  German  Society,  Proceedings  and  Ad 
dresses  at  Harrisburg.  Vol.  12.  1903. 

GENERAL  REFERENCES. 

Matthias  Claudius,  Werke.    Hamburg,  1819.    Bd.  II. 

Tales  of  the  Wild  and  Wonderful.  Published  in  London 
1825.  Translated  from  the  German  of  J.  A.  Apel.  Philadelphia, 
1826. 


Whittier's  Relation  to  German  Life  and  Thought         161 

Anti-Slavery  Pamphlet.  Published  by  Garrison  &  Knapp. 
Boston,  1834. 

Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine.    1844. 

Luther's  Tischreden.    Ed.  Forstemann. 

Goedeke's  Grundriss.    Vol.  4. 

Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe.   Edited  by  H.  W.  Longfellow. 

HaufFs  Werke.  Herausgegeben  von  Dr.  C.  Flaischlen. 
Bd.  II. 

Riickert's  Poetische  Werke.  Frankfurt  am  M.,  1882.  Bd.  III. 

Herder's  Sdmmtliche  Werke.  Herausgegeben  von  B.  Suphan. 
Berlin,  1884.  Bd.  II. 

Jean  Paul  Richter,  Levana.    Berlin :  Hempel. 

Kluges  Ausivahl  Deutscher  Gedichte.    Altenburg,  1896. 

Bulletin  of  Essex  Institute.   Vol.  25. 

Catalogue  of  Anderson  Auction  Sale  of  Literary  Property. 
N.  Y.  November  22,  1909. 

Bibliographic  und  Kritik  der  deutschen  Ubertragungen  aus 
der  amerikanischen  Dichtung.  University  of  Chicago,  Diss.  By 
Alfred  I.  Roehm.  Leipzig,  1910. 

Harmonies  Poetiques  et  Religicuses.  By  A.  Le  Lamartine. 
Hachette  et  Cie.  Paris,  1911. 

Catalogue  of  C.  F.  Libbie  <jr  Co.,  Auction  Sale  of  Literary 
Property.  Boston,  January  24-25,  1911. 


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AMERICANA   GERMAN1CA 


MONOGRAPHS    DEVOTED   TO   THE    COMPARATIVE   STUDY    OF   THE 

Literary,  Linguistic  and  Other  Cultural  Relations  oi 
Germany  and  America 


EDITOR 

MARION  DEXTER  LEARNED 

University  of  Pennsylvania 


CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

H.  C.  G.  BRANDT  J.  T.  HATFIELD 

W.  H.  CARRUTH  W.  T.  HEWETT 

HERMANN  COLLITZ  A.  R.  HOHLFELD 

STARR  W.  CUTTING  HUGO  K.  SCHILLING 

DANIEL  K.  DODGE  H.  SCHMIDT- WARTENBERG 

A.  B.  FAUST  HERMANN  SCHOENFELD 

KUNO  FRANCKE  CALVIN  THOMAS 

ADOLPH  GERBER  H.  S.  WHITE 

JULIUS  GOEBEL  HENRY  WOOD 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


NEW  YORK 
D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHING     AGENTS 


UNIVEESITY   OF   CALIFOENIA   LIBEAEY, 
BEEKELEY 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED   BELOW 

Books  not  returned  on  time  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  overdue,  increasing 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day.  Books  not  in 
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expiration  of  loan  period. 


OCT   IS 

3-V62RH1 


***** 


RETOLD 

MAY  2  6 1975  2 


• 


r~      Ffft 


$ 


929 


s  71-2  m 

D  TO 


50m-7,'29 


German  life 


and  thought 


338552 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


